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Book .C ■^. 



Fitchburg Histofical Society. 



REMINISCENCES AND 
OBSERYATIONS- 



Nineteenth Century, 



MORE PARTICULARLY 
RELATING TO THE FIRST HALF. 



BY 

FESTUS C. CURRIER. 



FITCHBURG : 

SENTINEL PRINTING COMPANY. 
1902 






I 






REMINISCENCES. 



PART I. 



Having been honored by your form- 
er secretary with the request that I 
write up something of my knowledge 
of the past, and after much hesitation, 
as I have no diary to refresh the mem- 
ory, I have consented to make the at- 
tempt, and in the beginning may I ask 
your indulgence and patience over such 
of the material as will constitute its 
chief substance, which is more or less 
of a personal nature. Men of the pres- 
ent day, who through age and good 
memory, that goes back toward the 
beginning of the century, are able to 
realize the vast changes that have oc- 
curred within their lifetime in the ma- 
terial and social condition of mankind. 
More than 70 years have passed with- 
in my remembrance, and many events 
and occurrences of that early period 
are yet fresh in my mind. 

Born and brought up in the society 
of people of the previous century, in- 
cluding soldiers of the Revolution, and 
in my youthful days hearing and tak- 
ing in much of the conversation at 
home and elsewhere, relating to Rev- 
olutionary times and subsequent years, 
down to the 19th century, of the trials 



*Read at a meeting of the Society Oct. 20, 1902. 
3 



and hardships of the war, and the un- 
settled condition of the country in the 
succeeding- years, of the hard times 
through which the people passed, and 
from studying school histories in my 
boyhood, impressed upon my memory 
many of these events, and much as to 
the condition and situation of the 
people prior, and at the beginning of 
the century, and through its first 
quarter, so that I may make the start- 
ing point of this paper at the opening 
up of the new government, which in 
the last decade of the previous cen- 
tury, under the wise and skilful guid- 
ance of Washington, was inaugurated 
and successfully started on its great 
career. The commencement of the 
new century found the government 
slowly gaining in the confidence of 
the people, but the great strain on the 
resources of the country to maintain 
the Revolution, and bring order out of 
chaos at its close, was yet severely 
felt, and the people of all classes were 
poor and suffered many privations, 
and were compelled to live in the most 
frugal manner. 

The great depreciation of the cur- 
rency during the war and down to this 
period, and the scarcity of real money 
in circulation throug-hout the country, 
prevented the growth of trade and 
commerce and made hard times. The 
lack of capital gave little encourage- 
ment to industrial enterprises. The 
"Chief occupation of the community 
\vas tilling the soil. In the absence of 
a ready market for their products, 
small returns in money came to them, 
and their means for a comfortable liv- 



ingr were limited and hard to get. This 
was the condition of New England and 
its people at the dawn of this century, 
and there was practically little im- 
provement in the same during its first 
quarter, and during this period, the 
war of 1812 with England added to the 
burdens, and increased the already 
hard conditions, but two years later 
brought a successful termination of 
the war, which gave increased 
strength to the government, and 
greater confidence to capital, and trade 
and commerce began to move slowly. 
The successful operations of the com- 
mercial marine on the ocean and 
lakes, brought to ship masters and 
owners, and to merchants along tide 
water large returns, and this soon 
found its way into the country, in the 
shape of capital for manufacturing 
enterprises, as was the case in 1815, 
when the foundations of the future 
city of Lowell were begun, and which 
was the first to turn the waters of the 
Merrimac into wheels of commercial 
enterprise and wealth, and laid the 
foundations of many other industrial 
concerns, which in later years gradu- 
ally grew up to large dimensions. 
Many small manufacturing concerns 
were soon located on the rivers and 
streams running through the towns 
and villages of New England, giving 
employment to sons and daughters of 
rural homes in these places, although 
at small wages and long hours; they 
doubtless were thankful to earn a lit- 
tle ready money, and by this means, 
mortgages were removed from homes 
long burdened, and many comforts 



added to the scant things of the house- 
hold. 

While small manufacturing- indus- 
tries were slowly working their way 
into the country districts, and in some 
measure supplying the domestic 
wants, not until later, when steam 
power and railroads became an as- 
sured fact, and were in successful op- 
eration, did a more aggressive busi- 
ness activity become apparent. Thus 
far, the country had made little prog- 
ress, the business of agriculture waa 
still the chief occupation of the com- 
munity, and the failure to materially 
enlarge the market of farm products, 
rendered the farmer small chance to 
improve his condition, and compelled 
the closest economy or his part, and 
that of his household; in fact, little 
money came into his hands during the 
year, and he was obliged to obtain the 
necessary supplies for the family, as 
far as possible, from the farm. The 
clothing for the household was made 
from wool of sheep raised on the farm, 
spun and wove by the mother and 
daughters in the home, the needed 
boots and shoes were from skins of his 
cattle, tanned at his neighbors' tan- 
nery, and made up by some itinerant 
shoemaker or cobbler going from 
house to house, making and mending 
the shoes of the village, and the gro- 
ceries and other articles not produced 
at home were purchased at the village 
store, and paid for as far as possible 
with produce brought from the farm; 
the balance due, if any, was charged 
up on an account, not often closed. In 
this way, the farmer got along with 



little money, buying nothing that 
could be done without. His farming 
tools were of the most primitive kind, 
and in most cases were made on the 
farm; wooden plows, home made, 
turned the soil; and in antiquarian 
rooms of these days, some of these 
tools of our fathers may yet be seen. 

The dwelling houses and out build- 
ings were built from lumber cut on the 
farm wood lot, and sawed in the little 
saw mill near by, and as hardware 
stores were scarce things in the coun- 
try, the village blacksmith supplied 
the necessary door hinges, and made 
the nails required, and such other iron 
ware as was needed. Some of the old 
houses of the 18th century had wooden 
door latches and handles; a few of 
these may yet be seen in ancient 
buildings preserved as memorials of a 
past age, but in the march of progress, 
at a later day, hardware for most all 
purposes, factory made, came into use, 
much to the relief and convenience of 
the community. 

The above indicates the condition of 
the country and the people at the end 
of the first quarter of this century, but 
the next decade shows a material ad- 
vance, and the country found some re- 
lief, from the small industrial concerns 
springing up wherever water power 
was available. Steam power had not 
then been applied in any manufactur- 
ing establishment in this common- 
wealth, nor in New England, and busi- 
ness was carried on in a small way, 
and with few operatives in each place, 
and at small wages,from 12 to 14 hours 
per day, six days in the week — no laws 



then protected the laborer from unjust 
exactions — labor reform societies and 
unions were unknown, and the laborer 
did not appear to have any conception 
of them, and was content, even at small 
pay and long- hours, if the chance to 
work could be obtained. This was the 
condition of the community at my 
earliest remembrance. 

The country outside of the few large 
towns, in the first part of the century, 
was quite undeveloped and few roads 
could be found. The country roads 
from town to town, where the mail 
stag-es i^an, were kept in passable con- 
dition, as the law required, but the 
local roads were mere cart paths, un- 
safe for g-eneral travel, and as yet, little 
improvement had taken place in them, 
as the tax payers did not want to pay 
the cost, so that light carriages were 
not in use in many of the country vil- 
lag-es; the ones in general use were 
wagons strong and roughly made, 
having wooden axletrees, without 
springs, used for all purposes of the 
farm, including- the family riding-, but 
this was very uncomfortable, and soon 
a remedy was invented in springs of 
various kinds, which came into use, re- 
lieving the situation. The two-wheeled 
chaise was occasionally seen, which 
first made its appearance in Colonial 
times, and was more or less in use in 
the more populous toWns, where the 
roads were better. They were a some- 
what expensive vehicle, and only the 
gentry rode in them, as the common 
people could not afford their cost. I re- 
member one of the ancient vehicles in 
my native town; it was elaborately 



built, heavy and cumbersome, and in 
its day was looked upon as a fine car- 
riage. Its owner, an old farmer and his 
wife, rode to town and to meeting- in it 
for upwards of 50 years, and left it to 
their heirs. It was in one of these 
two-wheeled chaises that Daniel ^Wehs- 
ter with his father rode from his home 
in Salisbury, N. H. (now Franklin), to 
Etxeter, some 50 miles distant, when 14 
years of age, to begin his education in 
Phillips academy in that place in 1796, 
with his trunk tied on the axletree. No 
covered carriages, as now in use ev- 
erywhere, were then seen, nor light 
buggies after the style of those of the 
present day were anywhere to be found. 
The common box wagon, hung witli 
leather springs made for business pur- 
poses and family riding, constituted 
the chief vehicle for light transporta- 
tion and for general use. It was in 
one of these wagons that I rode on my 
first visit to Boston, in 1833. Horseback 
riding was the chief mode of getting 
about, and men and women rode in 
this way to meeting and to town, and 
about the country. This came about 
from lack of proper carriage roads.and 
had come down from the days of our 
grandfathers, who had no roads, but 
traversed the country through ' the 
wilderness, by Indian trails, and over 
paths of wild beasts. 

I remember in my boyhood seeing the 
old family physician, astride of his 
faithful horse going his daily rounds to 
visit his patients,with saddlebags filled 
with all the requisite medicines needed 
—practically a traveling apothecary. 
As no regular apothecary shops were 



then in existence, the doctor had to 
supply the necessary medicines. The 
town clergyman was on horseback, 
visiting schools or the homes of the 
people, looking after their welfare spir- 
itually and otherwise. He had no oth- 
er mode of travel. Professional men 
almost everywhere traveled through 
the country in this manner. I heard 
my mother relate, when in her young 
days at home on her father's farm, 
some three miles distant from the vil- 
lage, that she rode horseback very of- 
ten, as they had no carriage comforta- 
ble to ride in, and no roads decent to 
drive over. To go to meeting on Sun- 
day, it was on horseback, seated on a 
pillion attached to the saddle behind 
her father, and when they arrived at 
the meeting house, a horse block stood 
near to the entrance for the purpose 
of dismounting. This she did many 
times, as no other way was provided to 
get there. This was the general mode 
of getting to meeting in her young 
days, for those who lived distant from 
the same. 

I wonder how the young ladies of the 
present day would like this way of rid- 
ing to church, clothed in fine raiment, 
sitting behind their escort on horse- 
back? I am inclined to think they 
would not be there every Sunday, but 
young men and women found horse- 
back riding a pleasant recreation, and 
this was quite common in my early 
days. This practice with rare excep- 
tions, has long ago gone out of use in 
this part of the country, and no such 
thing as a pillion is seen in these days, 
as comfortable carriages and better 

10 



roads are found everywhere, and a 
much better and more convenient way 
of travel is in use. 

In all dwelling houses of that period, 
fireplaces only were in use; the stove 
had not made its appearance. Every 
room of ordinary size had a flreplnce. 
The extreme cold of our New England 
winters was severely felt, and it was 
found difficult to keep the dwellings 
comfortable. None of the modern ap- 
pliances for heating purposes were 
then in existence, or heard of. Wood 
was the only fuel in use. Coal was 
nowhere seen or to be had in any coun- 
try town. The first coal fire I ever saw 
was in a tavern in Boston, in an open 
coal grate. This I thought was a fine 
thing, and a good place on a cold night 
to sit by. It is related that when ex- 
President John Adams returned to his 
native town of Quincy, after a consid- 
erable number of years spent in the 
service of his country, his neighbors 
gave him a call of welcome home. They 
told him that as independence had been 
secured, the great services he had ren- 
dered his country entitled him to rest 
and recreation. He, in his response, 
said that Quincy was a most delightful 
place to live in the greater part of the 
year, but the winter months were so 
severe that if he could find a place, 
like the dormouse, to burrow in, he 
would be content, as the winters were 
most unbearable. 

In those early times, in the absence 
of modern apparatus for heating, with 
nothing but open fireplaces to warm 
their dwellings, the inhabitants of 
New England no doubt suffered much 

11 



from the rigors of the winters, and 
only found relief later through the in- 
troduction of stoves. Fireplaces in old 
time houses, as we remember them, 
were very large, capable of taking in 
a large quantity of wood at one time, 
and a considrable amount of the heat 
would escape up through the large 
chimney flue and was lost. To remedy 
this waste, iron frames were invented, 
set into the brick at the mouth of the 
fireplace, standing partially out into 
the room; this was designed to give 
more heating surface and a better dis- 
tribution of heat into the room, and 
then the back of the fireplace was 
fixed to prevent as far as possible, the 
loss of heat up the chimney, and send 
the same out into the room. These 
were known as the Franklin Fire 
Frame, and were ornamental in de- 
sign, and somewhat improved the ap- 
pearance of the room. They answered 
their purpose until something better 
came along, then went out of use. I 
remember the large fireplace in my 
mother's kitchen, and the brick oven 
near by, and particularly the large 
quantity of wood needed to keep them 
going, as I had to bring it in from the 
shed outside, and then I have not for- 
gotten how cooking in a fireplace ap- 
peared to me, in comparison with the 
same over a cooking stove. Every 
housekeeper of three score years ago 
knows the difference, and realizes the 
labor saving and economy of the mod- 
ern cooking stove. It would doubtless 
be a difficult matter for the young 
housekeeper of the present day to be 
content to do her cooking in a fire- 



place. She would not long, if any- 
thing better could be found, but her 
grandmother and great-grandmother 
did it, and knew no better way, and 
were apparently content. But a 
change was near at hand, and the 
cooking stove was soon to come to the 
housekeeper's relief. This wonderful 
invention, as it was then called, was 
already talked about, and its wonders 
told in the weekly newspapers, so the 
good housewife was set to thinking 
about what a looking thing it must be, 
and perhaps had some doubts in her 
mind, that anything had been found 
better or equal to her fireplace, such 
as her mother had cooked in all her 
life, but she would wait and see. The 
inventors of the stove claimed that it 
would save much wood over the fire- 
place, and was more convenient and 
economical otherwise, but the more 
conservative people were not ready to 
believe all they heard, and were wait- 
ing with curiosity and doubts to see 
the new thing. 

The first stove to come to our town 
was bought by my father. It did not 
look much like the handsome and 
commodious ones of the present age, 
and was of a very different pattern-' 
none of this style is now in use or 
seen anywhere, at least, I have not 
seen one of them for many years. It 
M^as composed of thick, rough iron 
castings and was very heavy, as it 
took a number of men to carry it into 
the house. When it was set up and 
ready for use, the neighbors began to 
come in to see it. I was a rather 
small chap at that time, but like some 
13 



of the older ones present, had my curi- 
osity considerably excited over the 
new comer, and I paid close attention 
to all that was said and done, and re- 
member what some of the wise ones 
had to say about it. Some half a doz- 
en of the neighboring women came )n 
on the first day, and I think they all 
had something to say in regard to it. 
One woman told my mother that she 
did not believe it would be very con- 
venient, and the cooking would not be 
as good as in the fireplace. Another 
said that it was of no use to tell her, 
that as much could be done, and as 
well, as in her convenient fireplace, 
and she would stick to that a while 
longer, and one was particularly cer- 
tain that the cooking for our large 
family could not be done on it; but 
there were others who did not express 
an opinion, preferring to give it a fair 
trial; so they all went home with dif- 
ferent views, some for, and others 
against, but the stove stood the trial, 
and came off victorious, proving very 
satisfactory, especially in the amount 
of wood consumed, which I remember 
reduced the quantity required to be 
carried in, much to my relief. As the 
fire place was no longer needed, it was 
closed up, and the old pots and kettles, 
and gridirons, and tin baker, and other 
fireplace utensils went into retirement- 
This was about 1832 or 1833. Soon 
parlor stoves came into use, and im- 
proved the heating matter very much, 
keeping the house more comfortable 
with less fuel and less labor in cutting 
wood. Some 15 years elapsed before 



14 



coal came to my town, and then it 
gradually superseded wood. 

Another invention came round about 
this time, that proved very useful and 
important, the friction match, a new 
thing-, not heard of before. Previous 
to its advent, the only means known to 
start a fire was the flint and steel, and 
tinder box. A violent stroke of the 
steel against the flint would produce 
a spark which dropped into the tinder- 
box, would ignite the combustible ma- 
terial therein, prepared for the pur- 
pose. This would cause a blaze suf- 
ficient to set fire to shavings or other 
light material used in kindling fires. 
In this way our parents and grandpar- 
ents kindled their fires. There may 
have been other means of producing a 
sufllcient spark, but I am not aware of 
any. To obviate this rather uncertain 
way, live coals were kept by burying 
them in ashes, which if properly done, 
would keep alive a long time. This was 
a practical device, and was generally 
adopted, but in the event of the coals 
going out, the next thing to do was to 
g-o to the nearest neighbor, if one was 
reasonably near, to get some live coals, 
if they happened to have any. I re- 
member being- called on to render this 
service for my mother. The first match 
g-otten up was not friction, but simply 
a stick about four inches long, dipped 
in some inflammable substance, prepared 
only to ignite when applied to a live 
coal or fire. These were quite useful 
and convenient, but soon the real fric- 
tion match appeared and proved to be 
a very important discovery, which in 
these days would be indispensable, and 

15 



to be without them would be a serious 
misfortune. 

For illuminating- purposes, whale oil 
and tallow candles were chiefly in use. 
The candle was the light of the farm 
house and was of domestic make, the 
tallow was from cattle slaughtered on 
the farm, and prepared and dipped by 
the frugal housewife. The oil was of 
the sperm kind; it being more expen- 
sive, was only used on special occa- 
sions, when company came in, but in 
public buildings it was the sole illu- 
minator. 

Gas of any description had not come 
into use anywhere in New England 
outside of Boston. Prom the scarcity 
and high price of sperm oil, it went out 
of use for lighting purposes, and sub- 
stitutes made their appearance, such 
as chemical oil, burning fluid, cam- 
phene and other expedients, more or 
less of a dangerous character, but as 
we all realized, time brought relief in 
the discovery of crude oil, brought to 
the surface in great quantities, and ap- 
parently without limit, and finding of a 
way to refine it, produced the best 
burning oil known, and so cheap iii 
cost that the poorest home need not go 
without plenty of good light. 

It is also largely used for heating 
and other domestic purposes, and is 
now quite indispensable. Coal gas was 
first brought into use in England.about 
the first of this century, and into New 
York about 1823, and soon into Boston, 
but outside of the large cities, did not 
get into use for a number of years. It 
was more than 50 years after the in- 
troduction of gas into Boston that the 

16 



great discovery was made of the elec- 
trical current as an illuminator. Those 
of us who lived in the days of whale 
oil and tallow candles, the only way 
then known to light our homes, realize 
the vast difference between the old 
light of our fathers, and the marvelous 
one of the present age, and wonder 
what next will appear to illuminate us, 
and amaze the world. 

In my boyhood days many veterans 
of the Revolution were yet seen and 
met with in the home and in public 
places, aged and venerable in appear- 
ance, some carrying on their persons 
evidence of their experience in that 
terrible struggle, through the loss of 
an arm or leg, or eyesight, or other 
casualties, such as we now see almost 
daily on the veterans of the Civil War, 
whose similar appearance indicates 
that war is the same in one century as 
in another. These old soldiers of the 
Revolution, 50 years or more after the 
close of the war, feeble and decrepit 
with age, were held in much respect, 
and always found a welcome every- 
where. It was evident that their de- 
light was to tell of the hair-breadth es- 
capes and hard experiences of their 
soldier life, and as young men and 
boys, anything about war interested us 
much, and when the opportunity of- 
fered to hear one of these veterans 
talk, we were generally on hand, and I 
have not forgotten one of these occa- 
sions that possessed more interest than 
the thrice told tales of some of these 
veterans, and it may not be uninterest- 
ing here to relate some incidents con- 
nected with a visit to an old veteran's 



home, and what he told us of his ex- 
perience, which was not shared by 
many of his comrades in the service. 

In the fall of 1840, then just ending 
my 15th year, with my father, I went 
on a visit to his father, who was then 
far advanced in years, but was well 
preserved. His home was in a rural 
town in New Hampshire, to which we 
traveled in our one horse wagon, such 
as was in general use in those days. 
It was not of the modern type, either 
in style, or in the most comfortable 
riding, but I remember we got along 
very well, as our turnout was about 
the same as everybody else had and 
rode in. 

No railroad was then in any part of 
the Granite state nor in any part of 
this state through which we traveled 
at this time. Stage coaches and great 
teams were numerous along our route, 
but these were not all we met. This 
was within a month of the presidential 
election of that year, known as the 
"Hard Cider campaign." Harrison and 
Tyler, or at that time better known as 
"Tippecanoe and Tyler Too." Log 
cabins and hard cider barrels, and coon 
skins were a part of the election ma- 
chinery set up to enlighten the people 
how to vote on the great questions of 
the day. The purpose of this mode of 
electioneering was to bring home to 
the voters the fact of the humble origin 
of their candidate, as in contrast with 
that of the opposing candidate, Mr. 
Van Buren, whom they said was an 
aristocrat. Most of the large towns 
we passed through had a log cabin, and 
in a few, more than one, and frequently 



18 



one was met drawn by long- strings 
of oxen, filled with men and boys 
shouting for their candidates and 
drinking cider from barrels standing 
on platformis on the outside, within 
reach of the multitude, with coon 
skins nailed up over the entrance and 
on the sides,and also there were posted 
everywhere on barns and sheds and in 
public places caricatures of "Little 
Mattie," as he was called, all the way 
from my home to the end of our jour- 
ney, and taverns where we stopped for 
the night were filled with men drink- 
ing and hurrahing for "Tippecanoe and 
Tyler Too," late into the night. Pro- 
hibition against the sale of liquor was 
not then the law in this state or in 
New Hampshire. It was freely sold 
over the bar in all the taverns wherever 
we stayed. Traveling on the highway 
at this time was not lonesome business, 
especially in this noted political cam- 
paign, but we got through safely, and 
arrived at our destination. The old 
g-entleman's house was of the old 
style, built some tirrue in the 18th cen- 
tury, a high, sharp roof, one side of it 
went down near the ground, with a 
large chimney, and had a capacious 
fireplace, taking in at one time a large 
quantity of wood, whose bright fire 
gave sufficient light in the room with- 
out the aid of other light. As nothing 
but conversation was going on around 
the fireplace, my aged grandmother, 
my father and some others made up 
the circle, with the old veteran as the 
central flgnre. This group is indelibly 
fixed in my memory, and my mind's 
eye can see them as distinctly now as 

19 



then, and it brings back to me those 
then present, who long- ago have 
passed away. The most Interesting in- 
cident told was his account of seeing 
General Washington. He served from 
the beginning to the end of the war 
and was five years in the ranks, and 
two years detailed about camp as ser- 
vant to the officers, on account of his 
age and slender appearance. This first 
year of service was at the headquar- 
ters of the general of the army sta- 
tioned at Cambridge, and there he had 
the opportunity to see the great gene- 
ral quite often, and became familiar 
with his appearance. His majestic 
and dignified bearing attracted atten- 
tion and excited his admiration. He 
was tall, six feet or more, broad across 
the shoulders, erect, and of polished 
manners, always self-possessed and 
stern in deportment. When disturbed, 
through failure of subordinates to 
carry out orders, he would in strong 
and forcible language express his dis- 
pleasure in a way that did not require 
repetition to bring the delinquents at 
once to duty. This, he remarked, gave 
him the impression at the time, that 
the general was a great man — a born 
commander of men — superior in every 
respect to anyone else about him. 

While relating this, the countenance 
of the aged patriarch indicated his- 
deep reverence and love for his great 
commander, and seemed to inspire him 
with some of the spirit of his younger 
days. This to me was most interest- 
ing and, having from childhood up 
been taught reverence for the Father 
of our Country, and to hear from the 

20 



lips of one who in his daily duty had 
frequently seen him, the most illus- 
trious man in the world's history, 
whose undying fame is immortalized 
the world over, was an event of my life 
not to be forgotten, and when I read 
anything about Washington, I am at 
once reminded of this long ago inter- 
esting occasion. 

The country from 1830 to '40 made 
considerable progress and was steadily 
improving in its condition, and indus- 
trial establishments were finding en- 
couragement in various sections of 
New England,and were slowly increas- 
ing in number and importance. Rail- 
roads were beginning to be operated in 
some parts of the country, and with 
some success. In the eastern part of 
this state small shoe factories were 
quite numerous, employing a few op- 
eratives in each; also tanneries were 
in successful operation, not only in 
this state, but in localities outside, and 
gave employment to many persons. The 
shoe business in this commonwealth 
at this time was an important indus- 
try, although done in a small way, 
without machinery of any sort. These 
little concerns where located, gave em- 
ployment to many persons, young and 
old, and were the life and strength of 
the town. Their products found a 
market in the South and Southwest, 
and were the coarse heavy plantation 
shoe for Southern trade. These small 
shops were run by men of little or no 
ready capital, the proprietor doing his 
own work as far as possible, employ- 
ing a small number of workmen to as- 
sist him, carrying, in most instances 

21 



his manufactured products to Boston, 
the head center of this trade in this 
country at that time, in his own team, 
and exchanging the same for new 
supplies, necessary to continue the 
business, and to get such an amount of 
money as the merchant would allow 
him. In this way the shoe industry at 
this period was carried on, and in the 
existing scarcity of money in circula- 
tion, the manufacturer paid his help 
largely in orders on the village store. 
In this manner many were employed, 
but at small pay and long days, but the 
next decade showed a large increase 
in the shoe and leather business in 
New England, and later resulted in 
laying the foundation of an immense 
business in this state, that extended 
itself to all parts of the Northern 
states, and created great wealth, and 
gave employment to hundreds of 
thousands of men, women and children, 
and by the invention of machinery, ap- 
plicable to all parts of the work, and 
through the high degree of perfection 
to which this great industry has been 
carried, the country is fast monopoliz- 
mg in all its several branches, the 
shoe and leather trade of the world. 

Up to the beginning of the first decade 
of the forties, emigration from the old 
countries had been small, and few of 
the foreign laboring class had found 
their way into this country, but the 
building of railroads, then in course of 
construction and contemplation, all 
over the country, made a demand for 
a large number of laborers, and the 
opening of a large emigration was the 
result, and the navigation of the 



22 



ocean by steam vessels, which had just 
begun, enabled their transportation 
more quickly,and in considerable num- 
bers, and the steady growth of many 
industrial enterprises in various sec- 
tions of the country gave plenty of 
employment to all that came. . 

The increase in banking institutions 
at this period facilitated business en- 
terprises, and increased the circulation 
of money, but no radical change in 
railroads took place until later, when 
railroads took the place of stage 
coaches and teaming on the highways, 
and steamships in place of sailing 
craft. Boston had a few years before 
changed from a town government to a 
city, having been incorporated in 1822, 
with a population of about 40,000. New 
Tork at this time numbered about 60,- 
000. Boston was the metropolis of 
New England, and Salem as a com- 
mercial port stood next. Boston at 
this time covered a small territory, 
confined to islands quite surrounded 
by water, reached from the mainland 
over bridges and long causeways. In 
1833, with my father, I made my first 
visit to this city, passing over the long 
causeway known then, and for many 
years after, as the Mill Dam, since as 
Western avenue, and now as an ex- 
tension of Beacon street. I can well 
remember how Boston of those early 
days looked, and I think I took it all 
in, as never before had I been in so 
large a place. The famous old common 
did not then look as it does now. I 
think a wooden fence surrounded it, 
presenting rather a dilapidated ap- 
pearance, the trees looked as if they 

23 



failed to get much attention, and it 
was said that some of the residents of 
Beacon street and adjacent streets, 
pastured their cows there, through 
permission of the city, and that this 
practice continued up to 1840 if not 
longer. The state house towered abov'e 
everything else and could be seen far 
out into the surrounding country, as 
no high buildings then obstructed the 
view. I looked on it as a very large 
and elegant structure, without any 
rivals in the city or the country round 
about. The streets were narrow and 
crooked, paved with large and small 
cobble stones, very uneven, dirty and 
antiquated in appearance, no public 
improvements of any sort were seen 
anywhere. The beautiful public gar- 
den of the present day, had not yet 
been begun, the ground where it now 
is, was a boggy marsh covered at high 
tide with water to the foot of the com- 
mon, in fact, the whole back bay dis- 
trict from the common to the Brook- 
line town line and out to Roxbury, 
was of the same character, and this 
whole territory, extending to South 
Boston was frequently under water, 
and was a disagreeable waste. No 
railroads run by steam power entered 
the city at this time. Stage coaches 
and great teams filled the streets 
night as well as day, making such a 
noise over the uneven pavements, that 
it was difficult for a country chap to 
get any sleep, and in the daytime was 
so confusing, that he hardly knew at 
times where he was. Bunker Hill mon- 
ument was then in course of construc- 
tion, and the granite brought from 

24 



Quincy being transported there 
through the streets. As this was my 
first visit to a city, it struck me as a 
mighty big place, and I wondered 
where all the people came from, and 
where they all found a place to stay. 
The wonderful sights seen gave me 
much to talk about for sometime. A 
few years later within this decade, I 
was again in the city, and had the 
chance to see the present custom 
house in process of construction. The 
place where it now stands was a part 
of Long Wharf, which until taken for 
this purpose, extended up to what was 
then the foot of State street; the na- 
tional government took this property 
and filled it in by driving piles, mak- 
ing a solid foundation, which up to 
this day has sustained the weight of 
this immense granite building, with- 
out perceptible weakness anywhere. It 
is of Quincy granite, the roof as well 
as the walls, and is fire proof, the 
great granite pillars seen standing on 
the front were said to weigh 40 tons 
each, having been cut from the ledge 
whole, and brought from Quincy on 
large scows set on low wheels made 
especially for that purpose, and were 
drawn by oxen; two of these pillars 
were on the ground near, and none of 
them were then in place. This was 
the most costly building erected in 
New England up to this time, and cost 
the government upwards of a million 
dollars, a very large sum for those 
days, and it was considered a wonder, 
and many went to see it. The sharp 
whistle of the locomotive had not yet 
been heard in any part of this com- 



25 



monwealth, although railroads leading 
out of Boston in several directions 
were under construction, but no train 
had yet traversed the hills and val- 
leys of New England. The stage coach 
was the chief public conveyance from 
place to place along the great high- 
ways of the country, and its arrival 
and departure gave the only life and 
stir to the otherwise quiet and monot- 
onous towns and villages through 
which it passed. 

No daily newspaper found its way 
into any town outside of Boston, and 
there only one or two small ones were 
issued. Weekly newspapers were sent 
out in the mails to the country, and at 
the county seats, one or more were is- 
sued, local in character, and generally 
in the interest of a political party, but 
void of general news, and what they 
had was some days old. "When we 
read the news from Washington of 
the congressional doings, it would be 
from eight to 10 days old. No tele- 
graphs were then in existence or 
thought of, and the only means the 
papers had for getting the latest news 
was through the mails or from stage 
drivers or travelers. The newspapers 
of that time were not much like those 
of the present day. When President 
Harrison died in 1841,it was some days 
before it was known in New England, 
although post riders brought the sad 
news far in advance of the mails, and 
it was from four to six weeks before 
news from the other side of the ocean 
was read in our newspapers. On the 
8th of January, 1815, the battle of New 
Orleans was fought. On the 24th of 



26 



December previous, 15 days before this 
great fight occurred, a treaty of peace 
was signed at Ghent, by the repre- 
sentatives of England and this coun- 
try, the news of this very important 
transaction was not received in this 
country until about the first of Febru- 
ary following, so that it will be seen, 
had the present Atlantic cable been 
in existence at that time, no battle of 
New Orleans would have been fought, 
and American history would have 
been deprived of one of its brightest 
pages, the political fortunes of its he- 
roes would have been greatly changed, 
and the political annals of the country 
would have recorded events of a very 
different character. This goes to il- 
lustrate the mighty importance and 
effect of the electric telegraph and 
cable upon the destinies of mankind 
and the world. This great discovery 
and invention was the product of this 
19th century. No one had as yet in- 
dicated any knowledge or conception 
of this great and marvelous agent, 
which was soon to astonish the world — 
that could almost in the twinkling of 
an eye transmit intelligence to its 
most distant points. 

The weekly newspaper of those days 
had the whole field of journalism, as 
daily newspapers had not yet come 
round, so there was much competition 
between the various papers issued for 
subscribers, as the matter of adver- 
tisements cut a sm.all figure in their 
income. As but little of it was offered, 
the subscribers' list was the main 
support of the paper. To keep up a 
good list, canvassers were sent out to 

27 



gather them in. A story was told of 
a young man in my native town, who 
war. urged quite sharp, by one of these 
canvassers to subscribe for his paper, 
the young man did not take much in- 
terest in the paper, therefore declined 
to subscribe, but the agent was per- 
sistent. To get rid of him, the young 
fellow told him if he would bring 
along a paper filled with murders, 
robberies, accidents, and fires, he 
would subscribe. As the agent could 
not guarantee this, he failed to obtain 
his subscription. This man is now 
living at about 90 years of age. If he 
can read the daily paper of today, he 
will find what he demanded nearly 
three score and 10 years ago. 

In the national election of 1844 a 
number of weeks passed before the re- 
sult of the election was known in this 
state. It was more than two weeks 
before sufficient returns of the election 
in New York state were received at 
Albany, to determine the result in that 
state. The newspapers of the time 
furnished the political and religious 
reading of the day, and political par- 
ties of the day were represented by an 
organ, and were located at the county 
seats and in Boston. As public libra- 
ries nowhere existed for the people, 
these weekly papers provided the chief 
reading matter of the home, and from 
the rather high subscription price of 
the weekly paper, many families 
failed to take a paper, and they only 
got hold of one when a kind neighbor 
sent them one, and it was the practice 
in neighborhoods for a number of fam- 
ilies to join together and subscribe for 

28 



one paper, to be passed in turn to each 
family paying their share. No daily 
papers, or other reading matter, such 
as books and other periodicals as now, 
were kept ior sale on stands and coun- 
ters, and in railroad stations. No 
place could be found where, at the cost 
of a penny, the news could2be obtained. 
The occupation of the newsboy was 
unknown, and none were on the streets 
or in public places vending the latest 
news. No daily mail came to any 
town or village in New England ex- 
cept to populous places near Boston, 
so that these New England communi- 
ties moved along at about the same 
pace as they did at the beginning of 
the century, and not until railroads 
became the common carriers of the 
country, and the electric telegraph, 
that swift motor of intelligence and 
business communication was in opera- 
tion throughout the length and 
breadth of the land, did enterprise and 
push provide the daily newspaper, and 
put it within reach of the people in 
the most isolated village, and furnish 
to every community at least, one mail 
per day, if not more, and brought into 
use a thousand and one things for the 
convenience and comfort of the people. 
All of these inventions and improve- 
ments have come about within the last 
60 years in the business experience of 
many now living. 

As evidence of the steady growth of 
business enterprise during the first 
quarter of the century, the efforts of 
inland towns to secure better trans- 
portation facilities with commercial 
centers on the coast, led to the build- 

29 



ing of canals along the courses of riv- 
ers and throug-h populous places, so 
that the farmer and manufacturer 
could transport their products more 
cheaply and regularly, and the mer- 
chant get his store supplies at less 
cost. Outside of New England at this 
time, this mode of transportation was 
in successful operation, and was an 
important factor in the internal com- 
merce of the country, and projects for 
this purpose at this period were start- 
ed in some places of New England, 
and we find the first canal in the 
course of construction was the Mid- 
dlesex canal, starting from Pawtucket 
Falls on the Merrimac river, a short 
distance above where the city of Low- 
ell now stands, and ending at tidewa- 
ter in Charlestown. This enterprise 
had its beginning as early as 1793, and 
its charter was signed by Governor 
John Hancock, but it did not get into 
operation until 1803 — some 15 years 
before the great enterprise of building 
Lowell was begun, which was not then 
to be found on the map of the com- 
monwealth, as the territory was a part 
of the old town of Chelmsford. This 
canal was in successful operation un- 
til 1843, when through the success of 
the Boston & Lowell railroad as a 
competitor, it ceased to do any busi- 
ness. For a time it was a paying con- 
cern, and was no doubt the chief in- 
fluence that located the present great 
manufacturing city of Lowell. This 
canal transported both freight and 
passengers, and in conjunction with 
smaller boats, then run on the river 
above the falls as far as Concord, N. 



H., transporting freight to that place 
and to intermediate places, and prov- 
ing a valuable help to people living 
along the line of the river. Another 
canal, nearer to Fitchburg was built 
in the third decade of the century, 
from Providence, R. L, to Worcester, 
known as the Blackstone canal, going 
through the valley of the Blackstone 
river, from which it was named. This 
project was first suggested in Provi- 
dence in 1796, but did not then mate- 
rialize, because the Massachusetts 
legislature refused to grant a charter, 
but in 1822, a meeting was held in 
Worcester to consider the canal mat- 
ter, composed of some of its most 
eminent and wealthy citizens. The re- 
sult of this and subsequent gatherings 
was, that i 1825 a corporation was 
formed, and the subscriptions to its 
stock exceeded three times the amount 
called for, it being $400,000, and the 
work of construction was at once be- 
gun, and w^as completed in 1828, and 
the first boat to arrive in Worcester 
was in October of that year, and was 
moored in the basin at the foot of 
Central street, where it was advertised 
to take passengers for Milbury the 
next morning, returning in the even- 
ing, and would remain in the town 
during the week for the accommoda- 
tion of parties. This indicates that the 
boat must have been more than an 
ordinary affair, and was built for pas- 
senger service as well as for freight. 

The town of Worcester at this peri- 
od had about 3000 population, and was 
by far the largest place in the county, 
and besides being the county seat 



where all the courts of the county 
were held, it was the chief commercial 
and political center of the county, and 
all the country round about did their 
trading- there. The merchants of Bos- 
ton were considerably disturbed over 
the success of this canal, from fear of 
the trade of Worcester and this section 
of the state being diverted to Provi- 
dence, then a port of some importance, 
so they began to urge the advisability 
of building a railroad to Worcester 
from Boston, as the matter of railroad 
construction was then agitating the 
minds of business men in various parts 
of the country, and a line in New Jer- 
sey had already been completed and 
successfully run. So through this ag- 
itation of Boston merchants, Boston 
capital built the Boston & Worcester 
railroad, and the first train of cars ran 
into Worcester from Boston in 1835. 
This of course was an important event 
to Worcester, and to the heart of the 
commonwealth, but the canal contin- 
ued to run its boats for 12 years after 
the opening of this railroad, and only 
when the Providence & Worcester 
railroad opened up its line throug-h the 
Blackstone valley to Worcester, and 
purchased the rights and property of 
the canal company, did it cease opera- 
tions and go out of business, which 
was in 1847. This was practically the 
end of canal transportation and con- 
struction in this commonwealth. This 
canal in its 19 years of service was a 
great help to Worcester, and did much 
for its prosperity, but the era of stage 
coaches and canals as common carri- 



32 



ers in New England had passed, and 
railroads were fast taking their place. 
I remember seeing boats passing and 
repassing in this canal when on a visit 
to a town on its line in 1838 or '39, and 
in passing over the railroad from 
Worcester to Providence at the present 
day, sections of this abandoned canal 
can be seen from the car window. It 
may be interesting here to recall to 
mind the census of 1820, wherein the 
population of a few of the towns in 
this vicinity are given. Worcester at 
this time had 2960, Fitchburg 1736, 
Leominster 1790 (leading Fitchburg 
54), Lunenburg 1209, Westminster 1634, 
Ashburnham 1402 — these figures show 
comparatively little difference in the 
numbers of population in these towns, 
and I venture to say, while I have not 
before me this census report for the 
whole state, it will be found on ex- 
amination that the same relative dif- 
ferences existed between the other 
towns in the state as appears between 
the towns here named, and no sign 
had yet appeared indicating any radi- 
cal change in their future position. 
The decade from 1820 to '30 began to 
show some advancement, and the cen- 
sus of 1830 showed a large increase in 
Worcester's population, and in the 
next two decades trebled its numbers. 
Fitchburg in the same space of time 
more than doubled its inhabitants, and 
largely increased its material prosper- 
ity, and Leominster in the same period 
made a large increase. The other towns 
in the list, with the exception of Lu- 
nenburg, which shows a loss, made a 
steady gain through these three de- 



33 



cades. The introduction of the canal 
into Worcester was the beginning of 
its great advaaice, and the coming of 
the railroad in the next decade brought 
with it large increase in wealth and 
prosperity, as shown in the census re- 
turns of the next three decades, so it 
was in Fitchburg and Leominster in 
the next decade, when the railroad put 
in an appearance in 1845, bringing 
along with it new life and energy and 
laying the foundation of their future 
great growth in wealth and population. 
The marvelous discoveries and inven- 
tions brought to light in this, the sec- 
ond quarter of the century, were open- 
ing up at this time their wonders to the 
astonished gaze of mankind, and the 
dawn of a new era in business possibil- 
ities and methods was at hand, and the 
old was passing away. Steam was rev- 
olutionizing the old world as well as 
the new, and railroads and steamships 
were rapidly becoming the carriers on 
land and sea, and the great progress 
of later times had its starting point 
within this period of the 19th century. 
New England towns before the era 
of railroads were quite local in their 
affairs, and through lack of frequent 
communication with their neighbors, 
had little in common with them in do- 
mestic affairs and in general business. 
The government was then, as now, the 
town meeting, and was of New Eng- 
land origin, and came down from Co- 
lonial times, and is peculiar to New 
England, as it nowhere else then ex- 
isted in this country. It is recognized 
as the most Democratic government 
ever instituted, and is the pride of 



34 



every New Englander wherever he 
may be found. In town meeting, every 
citizen duly qualified by law, stands 
on an equality with every other citi- 
zen, and possesses the right to take 
part in all legislation, holding the 
ballot in hand to control the same, in 
fact, as often said, a "government of 
the people, for the people, by the peo- 
ple." At this time these little democ- 
racies were controlled by the farmers, 
who were in a large majority in the 
commonwealth and ruled that, as well 
as the town. As a class they were fru- 
gal and industrious, and found little 
time to devote to other matters, and 
through necessity practiced the strict- 
est economy, bringing up their families 
in the same way. They had but few 
holidays for rest and recreation. May 
training would attract them if planting 
was finished, they celebrated the 4th 
of July if haying was not urgent, and 
went to the fall militia muster, if their 
crops were abundant and the year gave 
good returns; and later, when cattle 
shows became an established institu- 
tion and attracted the interest and at- 
tention of the farmer, they generally 
went to them. These days gave about 
the only chance of the young men and 
maidens to get away from the drudg- 
ery of the farm and other occupations. 
That old time festival. Thanksgiving 
day, should not be forgotten. Coming 
down from the early Colonial period, 
time honored, and of New England ori- 
gin, when our forefathers and mothers 
gathered in the old home with their 
usually large families and family con- 
nections for the annual reunion around 



35 



the family altar and fireside. This was 
an important occasion in all the homes 
of New Eng-Iand, and is remembered 
as the most interesting and sacred 
event of our youthful days. Today it 
is recognized and kept throughout our 
entire land in response to the national 
proclamation issued from Washington. 
Another day, not recognized in the 
early days of New England, as of any 
special importance, but at the present 
time fast becoming the chief holiday 
and festive season of the year in all 
our communities, that day kept in 
commemoration of the birth of the 
Saviour of Mankind, Christmas day, 
recognized all over the Christian world 
as such. While this day has been sa- 
credly kept by the Christian church in 
all its varied branches in the Old 
"World, from the beginning of the 
Christian era down to the present time, 
it found no recognition in the old Puri- 
tan church of New England, from ics 
start at Plymouth Rock, down to late 
in the 19th century. In the olden time, 
this day went by unnoticed, and the 
goodly people of New England had no 
opportunity for its celebration. All I 
knew about Christmas day in my 
youth was found in the calendar of 
December in old Robert B. Thomas' 
almanac, that the 25th day of that 
month was Christmas, and I am in- 
clined to think that this is about all 
that was then known about it by the 
public generally. In this age of intelli- 
gence and more general knowledge, 
the great mass of the community of all 
classes of belief appear to be coming 
together to join in its celebration, as 



36 



the great festival of the year, and the 
descendants of the old church of our 
fathers are fast falling into line in its 
due recognition. This whole matter 
goes to show the liberal and broaden- 
ing tendencies of the age in which we 
live, and its good influences over soci- 
ety at large. 

There were no wealthy men in those 
days in the towns, as measured by the 
standard of this age, and the little pos- 
sessed was pretty evenly distributed 
among the people. To be counted worth 
ten thousand dollars constituted a rich 
man in the estimation of his neighbors, 
and but few could be found. No bonds 
or stocks found a lodgment in any of 
the country homes. Savings banks 
were few and far between in the coun- 
try districts. The little money saved 
for investment found ample opportuni- 
ty in mortgages on a neighbor's house 
or farm, and the demand for this pur- 
pose exceeded the supply. There was 
no leisure class, without apparent oc- 
cupation in these rural villages. Ev- 
eryone, old and young, had to work on 
the farm or at some trade, but few va- 
cation days were known and allowed, 
and children were early put to work, 
and brought up in the way that their 
parents had been before them, and not 
until greater prosperity and intelli- 
gence created an enlarged public sen- 
timent and a higher standard in the 
community, did much improvement 
take place in the condition of the 
people. 

"While agricultural pursuits were the 
chief business of the town, other oc- 
cupations found a place in the needs of 



37 



the community, such as blacksmiths, 
carriage and harness makers, carpen- 
ters, and masons, brick masons, paint- 
ers, shoe makers, and other artisans 
needed in the local business wants of 
the community, as none from outside 
were expected to do that which could 
be done by home workmen. 

The country store was an import- 
ant element in the business needs of 
the place, and was the commercial 
center of trade. The merchant behind 
his counter was an important factor in 
the village life, and he knew all the 
people. His stock in trade usually con- 
sisted of about everything required Lo 
supply the local demand. GHne Mild «** 
The facilities for getting to Boston or 
other large trade centers, was not as 
good as it is now, so the people were 
obliged to do their trading in the home 
store, and the merchant kept the busi- 
ness, but it sometimes happened that 
some enterprising fellow would drop 
into town, and discover a good open- 
ing for trade. The result would be the 
starting of another store in opposition 
to the old store, and competition would 
be sharp, and the people would profit 
by it for a while at least. The stocks 
of merchandise in these old time 
stores were of a general and miscella- 
neous assortment, like that found in 
the back country stores of the present 
time. Everything needed in the home 
or on the farm was kept for sale, and 
frequently large stocks were carried to 
supply the local demand. One kind of 
merchandise not found in country 
stores today, was found in stock, in the 
shape of spirituous liquors on tap, by 

38 



the glass, or by the pint, quart or gal- 
lon, as the customer desired, but pub- 
lic sentiment has driven out the sale 
of this class of goods from the village 
store, and the community is relieved 
from this disagreeable feature of their 
local trade. The credit system was 
the prevailing custom of trade, and 
long credits were given in almost 
every branch of trade. The limited 
circulation of money among the people 
and the small wages earned, compelled 
it. This mode of business in- 
creased the cost of the goods pur- 
chased, as the interest at both ends of 
the transaction, was finally paid by the 
consumer. This was the country store 
and its mode of business in the first 
half of the century. 

Another institution holding an im- 
portant place in the town was the 
old country tavern. Who of us that 
does not remember the tavern in our 
native village, in the days when the 
stage coach held the fort, and the rail- 
road was not in it, — stately and capa- 
cious in appearance, with an acre of 
barns in the rear, — holding the most 
eligible site in town, with its swinging 
sign in front, to attract the traveller. 
The grand center around which every- 
thing appeared to revolve. The land- 
lord was an important person, a lead- 
ing citizen of the town; smiling on all 
occasions and when the stage coach 
drove up to his door, or other guests 
made their appearance, he would in 
the most polite manner be on hand to 
welcome them, and escort them into 
the house — none could perform this 
agreeable function better than he. He 

39 



was often at the head of the board of 
selectmen, a justice of the petice, colo- 
nel or captain in the militia, — and 
sometimes a representative to the gen- 
eral court, and occasionally the town'js 
postmaster. He knew everybody in 
town, young- and old, and was at all 
times ready to give information and 
advice on all matters relating to town 
affairs, or about the inhaoitants, — in 
short, he was looked upon as the chief 
oracle of the community. His house 
was not only the resort of travelers 
and strangers, but was the social and 
political center of the village. There 
the patriotic citizens came to talk over 
town affairs, and discuss the current 
political questions of the day, and hold 
caucuses and arrange for elections and 
town meetings, and in the long winter 
evenings sit around the blazing fire of 
the barroom, and talk over events and 
occurrences of the day, and doubtless 
take something to keep themselves in 
a social state of mind. And then as a 
part of the social functions of the 
house, the young men and maidens of 
the village would come together for a 
dance, and older people would occa- 
sionally gather together to renew the 
scenes of their young days in an old 
time dance, and then on all public oc- 
casions in town, the people and their 
friends would make the tavern their 
headquarters; in fact, it was the chief 
public place of the town. This institu- 
tion came down from the olden time, 
and was coincident with the settlement 
of the country, and was in its most 
popular andp rosperous period found 
in every town and village, along the 

40 



great routes of transportation. Filled 
nightly with travelers, and when later, 
In the progress of the age, the ancient 
stage coach of our fathers, as a pub- 
lic conveyance on the highways of the 
country gave way before the railway 
train, these time honored inns began 
to lose their prestige as houses of pub- 
lic entertainment, and the stately 
mansions of once generous and pros- 
perous landlords, in village and by 
roadside, where thousands in years 
gone by, came to find hearty greeting 
and cheer, are now deserted and in 
ruins, or perhaps giving shelter to a 
different class of tenants. In its 
stead, we have that modern establish- 
ment, the hotel. 

Another item in the make-up of the 
country village in the boyhood days of 
some of us, was the volunteer fire 
company and the machine with which 
we used to run. The old time fire 
company of the 40s and 50s. was a 
pretty active and vigorous institution, 
and was an important factor in the life 
of the town, and its young men found 
an opportunity to exercise their mus- 
cles and test their endurance, without 
forming athletic clubs. No such an 
organization as a fire company existed 
in any of the towns and villages of 
New England in the first quarter of 
the century. The first organized com- 
pany to fight fire, was men with buck- 
ets known in some places as the 
"bucket brigade." Each man provided 
a bucket for himself, to be kept solely 
for fire purposes, in a convenient place, 
so that on an alarm of fire, he could 
quickly get the bucket to the fire, and 



when there, the company would form 
a line to the nearest supply of water 
and then pass the filled buckets along 
to be thrown on to the fire. If they 
reached the fire early they might check 
it, but if late, their work was ineffect- 
ual, but they could be serviceable in 
protecting exposed property. In case 
a member failed to appear with his 
bucket promptly he was subject to a 
fine. When machines were invented to 
force the water on to a fire, then the 
bucket company was useful in filling 
the machine. I remember seeing one 
of these buckets hung up in my homo 
with my father's name on it, so I 
think he was a member of one of these 
companies. Sometime in the 30s a ma- 
chine made its appearance to force the 
water, but did not draw it, worked by 
two long handle cranks. One of these 
was purchased by my town, and as I 
remember, was a hard thing to operate 
and soon would exhaust the strength 
of its workers, and it was not long be- 
fore the authorities failed to get any 
company to work it. It was reported 
that a number of towns purchased 
them, but they proved practically 
worthless and were cast aside. Later 
the large towns and manufacturing 
villages began to organize fire com- 
panies and purchase machines of more 
modern design, such as are now found 
in many places, the hand brake suction 
machine, familiar to everybody in 
these days. In many cities and towns 
they are practically laid aside for the 
steam fire engine and chemical ma- 
chine with their regular paid firemen 
in place of the volunteer companies. 

42 



Excepting in small towns, the volun- 
teer fire department has been super- 
seded by regular paid departments. 
Who of us that does not remember the 
old fire company and hand brake tub 
in the days of its supremacy in fire 
fighting, when much rivalry existed to 
see which company would get the first 
water on to the fire, and which could 
throw the water the farthest, and then 
firemen's musters were all the go. 
These of course had to be attended, 
taking along all the muscle that could 
be worked up by frequent drilling, to 
get the prize offered, and come off vic- 
tor, and take home the trophy, under 
flying colors, to the great satisfaction 
of the towns' folk. I am told that the 
old town of Fitchburg in those days 
was not far behind in this business, 
that she had some lively companies, 
made up from live young men of the 
town, and that they were generally on 
hand on these occasions, and that the 
good name of the town did not suffer 
from their lack of push and go ahead. 

I remember my experience in some 
of this business, and that the company 
I run with, attended a muster held in 
Worcester somewhere about 1855 or 6. 
It was a great affair, and a large 
number of companies from all parts of 
New England were present, and no 
doubt Fitchburg w^as represented 
there, and that some here may remem- 
ber it, but it was a big time, and thou- 
sands put in an appearance. My com- 
pany went on with their machine, 
headed by a band of music, confident 
of our ability to get pretty near the 
head, if not at the top, after much 

43 



drilling and practice, but fate was 
against us. After exhausting all the 
wind that was in us, at the moment 
when victory appeared to perch on our 
banner, our hose burst, and our game 
was up, so we went home consoling 
ourselves that we did mighty good 
work, but rotten hose spoiled the game, 
and the prize was not ours, and the 
good people of our town, or some of 
them, doubtless thought they had a 
pretty smart company, but this expe- 
rience was enough for me, and my de- 
sire to train in fire companies and go 
to firemen's musters was quenched, 
and I retired from that service. But 
the musters are still held, notwith- 
standing the old tub has gone by as a 
servant of fire extinguishers, it still 
finds occupancy in some sections as 
prize winners at musters of firemen, 
or in the attempt to do so, but other- 
wise its days of usefulness have de- 
parted with its volunteer company. 

Another matter of the olden times, 
then of som-e importance, should not be 
passed by. Who of us, men of three 
score and ten years, that does not re- 
member the militia training days of his 
boyhood, when the fife and drum awak- 
ened in him the desire to become a 
soldier, and the stalwart militia com- 
pany of his town marched in battle ar- 
raj'' by his home? This was in times 
when~compulsory military service was 
required of every able-bodied man 
from 18 to 45 years of age, unless ex- 
empt through legal disabilities from 
such service, a day was set apart by 
law, when this service should be per- 
formed, known for many years as an- 



nual training day, which was the last 
Wednesday in May. On this day, un- 
less legally relieved, after being duly 
warned, the soldier was obliged to 
appear for drill and inspection, and if 
he failed to put in an appearance, was 
liable to a fine or imprisonment. He 
must appear fully equipped, according 
to law, and when on parade must pass 
the inspection of his equipments, to as- 
certain if he was ready at a moment's 
call for duty. His gun required careful 
examination, and its flint lock,and flint, 
was especially investigated, to be sure 
of its perfect condition. Percussion 
caps had not then been invented, so the 
flint was the only thing known to pro- 
duce the necessary spark required to 
discharge the gun. After some drill- 
ing in the manual of arms, and in 
marching, his duty for the day was 
done, and he went home thinking over 
in his mind what a farce this whole 
business of militia training was, to 
compel a citizen of this free country to 
do military duty in the time of pro- 
found peace; to his mind, it was un- 
necessary and wrong. This was the 
very general opinion of those obliged to 
perform this duty, and they, all over 
the state determined to get rid of this 
law, which for many years had been on 
the statute books of the state, and af- 
ter much effort and considerable de- 
lay, the law requiring military train- 
ing was repealed. 

When I reached my 18th year, and 
was liable to perform military service, 
the law had just been done away with, 
so that I escaped being obliged to 
train in the militia, but the military 



spirit of the old Bay State still held 
good, and volunteer companies, finely 
uniformed and equipped, chartered by 
the state, were in existence throughout 
the state, and were recognized and 
maintained as the regular militia force 
of the commonwealth, subject to its 
laws and control, and each soldier was 
allowed a small stipend for each day's 
duty performed as required by law. 
This was the policy of the state con- 
cerning the militia, under its various 
conditions, until the Civil War, but the 
citizen soldiers of these earlier times 
were not so generously provided for as 
those of the present age. They were 
obliged to provide their uniforms and 
other equipments, with the exception 
of the arms (which were allowed by 
the government) and to supply their 
own armories, unless the city or town 
where located did it, and the military 
discipline exercised then was not up to 
the present standard; but with these 
drawbacks, the militia force of the 
commonwealth,made up of its stalwart 
sons, as it was, maintained its dignity 
and honor, and was second to none in 
the country. 

Another event of considerable im- 
portance, and far reaching in its ef- 
fects, had an existence in the first half 
of the century that brought to thou- 
sands of honest and misguided people 
in New England and outside, much 
trouble and despair, destroying tho 
peace and quietude of many Christian 
homes, and carried ruin and poverty 
to large numbers of well to do people. 
This was the Millerite delusion, in the 
decade from 1833 to 1843. One William 



46 



Miller, a native of this state, but re- 
siding somewhere in New York state, 
a farmer, and a religious enthusiast, 
had made the Bible his study for many- 
years, and had become thoroughly 
conversant with every part of it, es- 
pecially the prophecies of the Old and 
New Testaments; of every chapter re- 
lating to the second coming of Christ. 
He became thoroughly convinced that 
that important event was at hand, and 
the world was about to come to an end, 
and the promised millenium was near. 
About this time he began to publish 
and send abroad in pamphlets and in 
the press, his convictions; and the evi- 
dence therefor. He predicted that in 
the year of 1843, in the month of July, 
(I have forgotten the exact day) that 
this momentous change would take 
place. He left his farm to go to waste, 
and traveled over the country during 
these 10 years, delivering addresses 
and spreading broadcast his tracts, at- 
tracting large numbers of people to 
hear him, creating much interest and 
excitement wherever he went. He ad- 
dressed a large meeting in my native 
place, and through curiosity I went to 
see and hear him. This was sometime 
in 1841 or 2. He was then in middle 
life, of fair personal appearance, but 
terribly in earnest, and had his sub- 
ject at his tongue's end; could quote 
Scripture from one end to the other, 
and readily answered any questions 
asked; he had the time of dissolution 
all figured out, and printed on slips for 
distribution, showing how* he had 
arrived at his conclusions, and chapter 
and verse was given to prove his po- 

47 



sition, and this with his very earnest 
and effective manner of putting it, 
produced a remarkable effect, and sent 
many out from his meetings to their 
homes with fear and trembling. His 
meetings were large, and thousands 
were attracted to them. The newspa- 
pers of the time were everywhere filled 
with reports of them, and many arti- 
cles appeared, combating his position, 
and ministers preached sermons to 
their congregations, showing the fal- 
lacy of his theories, and they may 
have had some effect with the more 
intelligent, but the fire continued to 
rage, and multitudes filled his audi- 
ence rooms everywhere in large cities 
and towns, and through the rural dis- 
tricts of the country, and during the 
last year before the appointed day 
campmeetings of his followers, gath- 
ered together in many places, to pray 
and await the promised coming of 
their Savior. 

Farms were deserted, no crops were 
raised on them the year preceding the 
date of the expected change. Men left 
their occupations and business affairs 
and the daily newspaper reported a 
number of committals to asylums in 
various parts of the country, persons 
becoming insane over this terrible deJ'.i 
sion. A little less than a month before 
the expected day in 1843, late in the 
afternoon of the 17th of June, I was 
returning from Boston, where I had 
been to the celebration of the comple- 
tion of Bunker Hill monument, and to 
hear Daniel* Webster, and see President 
John Tyler (who was a guest of the 
Monument association on that occa- 

48 



sion), riding on the outside of a stage 
coach, when passing- along the street 
near the station of M^ellesley Hills on 
the Boston & Albany railroad, then 
known as Grantville station, we ob- 
served four men carrying along in the 
direction of the station a n;an, whom 
we supposed was drunk or in a fit, but 
inquiry brought out the fact that he 
was a raving maniac, caused by this 
Millerite excitement^ and that he was 
being taken to Worcester insane asy- 
lum. The morning papers of the next 
day reported the case. He was repre- 
sented as a man of about 50 years of 
age, in good standing and circum- 
stances, but under the influence of 
Miller's doctrine, had become hopeless- 
ly insane. This was only one of 
the many unfortunates reported, led 
away from reason and calm judgment. 
But the near approach of the "last day" 
as Miller termed it, only increased the 
excitement, and many substancial citi- 
zens were affected by it, particularly 
those of strong religious feelings and 
emotional temperaments. The few days 
before the set day, the newspapers 
were full of reports here and there of 
the assembled expectants in camps 
and gatherings, preparing their white 
robes for ascension. The great inter- 
est wrought up made the arrival of the 
day and the night previous of more 
than usual interest to lookers, and 
to those not convinced that anything 
out of the ordinary course of nature 
was about to happen. I remember 
this appointed July morning, the sun 
arose as usual, and the day passed 
without a sign of a change from the 



natural order of things, very much to 
the relief of those who had become 
somewhat disturbed over the matter, 
but the more earnest believers held to 
their faith, saying that some mistake 
in the calculations had been made, 
that the language of the Bible was 
plain, and must be believed, but it did 
not come, as expected, and the disap- 
pointment of the dupes of this religious 
fanatic was very great, and much suf- 
fering, mentally and physically, was 
the result. The loss of home, property 
and means of subsistence to many hon- 
est and misguided persons all over the 
land was a serious matter, and for a 
long time after, was felt greatly by its 
unfortunate victims. The newspapers 
soon after published interviews with 
some of the prominent believers, whose 
faith was still firm in the early disso- 
lution and destruction of all things, 
but nearly 60 years has come and 
gone, and no sign has yet appeared in- 
dicating the near approach of any such 
an event, and in the course of time 
nearly all, if not all, of these mis- 
guided and unfortunate follow^ers of 
Miller, together with himself, have 
passed away. It was reported at the 
time of his death, which occurred some 
five years after the time he set for the 
end, that he died, disappointed and un- 
happy, over the failure of his predic- 
tions to come to pass. 

This whole unfortunate occurrence 
goes to show from how small a spark 
a great fire may be kindled. 



50 



REMINISCENCES. 



PART II. 



In writing up the old Puritan church 
of our forefathers, of their creeds and 
doctrines and houses of worship, of 
their customs and practices therein, 
and of the strict rules and stern disci- 
pline set up to govern their religious 
and domestic lives, to learn what 
manner of men they were, and what 
they builded, we will go back to its 
beginning, at Plymouth Rock, nearly 
three centuries ago, and which existed 
for nearly two centuries, with few ex- 
ceptions, as the sole religious organi- 
zation in New England, and not only 
was it the dominating religious power 
through this long period, but it ruled 
secular affairs with an iron hand. Its 
founders had left the mother country 
to found a place where unhindered-, 
and with perfect freedom, they could, 
in accordance with the dictates of 
conscience, worship their Divine Crea- 
tor. For this they had left their kin- 
dred and childhood homes, and through 
almost insurmountable trials and dif- 
ficulties, come to the wilderness of 
North America, to found a home for 
themselves, their wives and children. 



♦Read at a meeting of the Society Nov. 17, 190-2 
51 



In establishing- this first church, these 
men of Plymouth Rock were of the 
most radical Orthodox faith, and in 
creed and doctrine of the straightest 
sect. No man, not a member of the 
church, was permitted to take part 
in the secular matters of the colony, 
nor was he desired in their community 
Everyone must be baptized, and prom- 
ise obedieme to all rules and ordi- 
nances oi che church. No bishops, 
prelates or priests were recognized as 
necessary in their church; none were 
wanted. They had just fled from their 
presence in their native land. Their 
first meetinghouse was of logs, not 
only as a house of worship, but as a 
fort for protection against the raids 
of Indians. Twenty-five years later 
they erected another meetinghouse, not 
a church, as that name was repugnant 
to them. It was of the plainest kind, 
and the services therein were of the 
same character. They were governed 
by ruling elders, who managed all the 
affairs of the society and colony. The 
Sabbath, which began at sundown on 
Saturday evening, terminated at sun- 
down on Sunday evening. The Sab- 
bath was a sacred season, no manual 
labor was done or permitted. Every- 
one, young and old, were required to 
go to meeting, and no excuse for non- 
attendance, short of extreme illness, 
was accepted. Their hatred of the old 
Church of England was so strong that 
in the construction of their houses of 
worship nothing ornamental or any, 
thing like the old home church was al- 
lowed, nor any of the forms of wor- 



52 



ship used in that church permitted 
in any part of their service, they de- 
claring they wanted none of their 
Romish practices. This was the first 
Puritan Orthodox church set up in 
New England and was substantially 
in creed and doctrine, the same that 
existed for two hundred years or 
more, and was practically the estab- 
lished church during that period, rec- 
ognized by law, and supported by gen- 
eral taxation of all inhabitants, and 
no other religious organization was in 
any way recognized. It was, in fact, 
the ruling power in all matters reli- 
gious and civil, until this common- 
wealth in 1820 changed its constitu- 
tion. 

In the new one, it was declared that 
no person without their consent, should 
be taxed to support any church or re> 
ligious society in this state. Previous 
to this, under the old charter, the 
church, parish, and town government 
were one and the same in all fiscal 
matters. Every property owner and 
tax payer, no matter what his reli- 
gious opinions might be, was obliged 
to pay the tax for the support of the 
established church. 

About this period, at the beginning 
of the century, the Baptists and Meth- 
odists were organizing churches in va- 
rious places in New England, and met 
much opposition from the old church. 
This opposition increased the feeling 
against the old establishment, so that 
these independent congregations, with 
the aid of the non-church attendants, 
were able to carry the constitutional 



53 



convention in favor of the entire sep- 
aration of church and state. In the 
new charter, and from this time down, 
no such connection has existed in this 
commonwealth, and later, in any other 
part of the country. Previous to the 
Revolution, a few Church of England 
cong-reg-ations existed in New Eng- 
land, and in other parts of the land, 
and continued through the war and 
after, but in a small and feeble condi- 
tion. Their very general adherence to 
the mother country through that 
struggle, rendered them obnoxious to 
the patriotic masses of the country, 
and they became for a while, nearly- 
extinct. 

The old church now being depend- 
ent on its adherents for support, and 
to meet the liberal tendency of the 
age, were obliged to relax in their dis- 
cipline and allow more freedom in 
their church organization. Previous 
to this, there had been in many of 
their churches, considerable contention 
over the doctrine of the Trinity, and 
the Calvinistic creed of eternal pun- 
ishment of the wicked. These differ- 
ences led to a revolt on the part of 
many strong and influential members 
of their congregations, and a crisis was 
imminent in the old church but theCal- 
vinistic and Evangelical party would 
not concede any point, as they claimed 
that these old doctrines constituted 
the chief corner-stone upon which the 
church had stood from Plymouth Rock 
down, and were not to be surrendered 
or changed; so that the contention in 
church and out, continued to rage with 



54. 



greater force than before, and it was 
said that the Bible found students who 
before had not been inclinftd to study 
it much, and under the excitement 
produced, were seen, book in hand, 
discussing chapters and verses relat- 
ing to the questions at issue. Much 
interest was awakened over this mat- 
ter, and muny were more or less euv- 
lightened about church creeds and 
doctrines. 

This great controversy finally led 
to the disruption of many congrega- 
tions in New England. Many of the 
protestants against the old standard 
of faith were men and women of the 
highest standing in the community, 
and well-known and prominent in af- 
fairs of town and state, and the clergy 
were not all of one mind, and were 
divided on these matters of doctrine. 
Both parties retained more or less of 
them. This gave the contention more 
interest and importance in the com- 
munity. The government of the 
church and parish being subject to the 
majority rule in all matters, enabled 
the strongest party to retain the 
church and parish organization, and 
the meetinghouse and other property 
of the parish leaving the minority to 
accept the situation, or go out, as many 
did. If the lesser number were too 
small to organize themselves into a 
separate congregation, they generally 
remained or went to other denomina- 
tions then existing in many places. 
Where the minority was strong in 
numbers and influence, they formed 
new congregations, and built them- 



55 



selves new houses of worship, retain- 
ing the old plan and system of church 
and parish organization such as had 
existed in the ancient Congregational 
church of their fathers, so that both 
parties to the controversy kept intact 
their old name and and system of 
government. The only difference 
known between them, was in their 
declaration of faith and doctrine. This 
was the case in a large number of 
towns and villages in New England, 
and made the dividing line permanent 
and distinct, but all this change did 
not take place in peace and harmony. 
A recourse to the courts was neces- 
sary in some instances to determine 
the rights of the parties concerned, 
and more than a quarter of a century 
passed before this matter ceased to be 
a disturbing factor in the religious and 
social affairs of many communities. 
For considerable time after, when the 
controversy had apparently been set- 
tled by division, it furnished a sub- 
ject for conversation and discussion 
around the domestic fireside, and in 
shops and public places, and the min- 
isters in their Sunday sermons con- 
tinued in many instances to keep alive 
these discussions by preaching from 
texts relating to the doctrines in con- 
tention. I remember as a young lis- 
tener in my home, hearing this mat- 
ter talked over quite often. When 
neighbors came in for an evening call 
it was sure to come up, as it was 
doubtless the subject of the pastorhs 
sermon on the Sunday before. In this 
way, I learned very much of this great 



56 



controversy, from its beginning to its 
end. 

Theological questions in those days 
furnished much material for discus- 
sions at social and neighborhood gath- 
erings in rural communities, as al- 
most everybody went to meeting. There 
was not then so much to talk about, 
the daily newspaper had not put in an 
appearance, and daily occurrences did 
not come to supply subjects for even- 
ing talk. Town gossip and the Sun- 
day sermon were the chief topics 
talked over, and served to keep up an 
interest in church affairs and in the 
social doings of the community. 

In these days of daily papers, of 
steam and electricity, the people find 
something else to do and talk about. 
The mighty push of an ambitious 
populace, the mad rush of railway 
trains through the villages, and that 
annihilator of time and space, the tel- 
egraph, furnishes ample material for 
thought and attention and make sec- 
ondary the consideration of church 
doctrines outside of church con- 
ventions, as they are not deemed 
of as much importance as they were 
in the time of our fathers. A broader 
and more generous spirit prevails in 
neighborhoods, and people are less 
concerned about what their next-door 
neighbor believes, and to what church 
he attends, but ready in an intelligent 
and liberal spirit to grant that which 
he asks for himself. This is the re- 
sult of the great progress rapidly 
developing everywhere for the relief 



57 



and benefit of the people, and is u 
product of this century. 

The ancient meeting houses of our 
forefathers are yet seen in many places 
in the land, and appear well pre- 
served, surmounted by the usual high 
tower, to be seen far and wide, dignified 
and impressive, standing, a silent wit- 
ness of thousands upon thousands, who 
at onetimeor another,entered their por- 
tals to worship their Divine Creator. 
These old houses of worship are se- 
verely plain outside and in, and are 
most substantial in appearance, erected. 
as most of them were, in the ISth cen- 
tury, but there are a few yet occupied 
for worship that were built in the 17th 
century; one in Hingham was built in 
16S1, two and a quarter centuries ago. 
and has been continually in use from 
the date of its erection: it is of the 
square box style of that remote age.and 
is surmounted with a bell tower, stand- 
ing on the apex of its square roof. Its 
exterior is well preserved, and is most 
venerable in appearance, and is kept as 
near as possible the same as when first 
built. The interior was thoroughly 
modernized a few years ago; the old 
pulpit is removed, and the high back 
square pews are replaced by the mod- 
ern style, and the seats are cushioned, 
and floors carpeted, where once none 
of these comforts were found. It is a 
very ancient structure, and is well wor- 
thy of a visit. But few, if any of this 
peculiar design will be found in New 
England. The Old South church in 
Boston, built in 1730, is well known to 
everybody who goes to the city, also the 
old North church and King's chapel, 



built some time previous to the Revo- 
lution. In fact, Boston is rich in these 
ancient meeting houses. Newburyport 
has a number, and all over Massachu- 
setts they will be found, their high 
steeples rising above everything else, 
being seen from far out into the coun- 
try*. These old sanctuaries mostly built 
in the 18th century are of the same gen- 
eral style of architecture, and those 
built in the first years of the 19th cen- 
tury follow the same general design: 
none of this type are built in these 
days. These old structures in most 
cases '•etain their original exterior de- 
sign as first built, and are in remarka- 
bly good condition, showing how thor- 
oughly they were built, and how well 
they have withstood the storms and 
blasts of a century, more or less, and 
how well they have been cared for by 
successive generations, who have oc- 
cupied them in their time. "While the 
exteriors are preserved, the interiors in 
nearly every one — to meet the demand 
of later times — have been greatly 
changed. The old high pulpit and 
sounding board suspended over it, are 
gone, the high back square pews with 
doors and seats on hinges to raise or 
drop, are removed. The modem ros- 
trum or def»k has taken the place of the 
pulpit, and the low back pews without 
doors, are in place of the old ones, neat- 
ly cushioned and carpeted, where be- 
fore none was ever seen, and in addi- 
tion, substantial heating apparatus is 
found, where none was seen in former 
times. The whole is so changed that 
the attendant of earlier times, to enter 



59 



now, would not recognize his old house 
of worship. 

A few years ago the opportunity 
came to me, officially, to inspect the 
public buildings of this state; the 
churches were included in the list. 
Through this, I visited a large majority 
of them in this commonwealth, and 
learned their condition, and acquired 
much information about those of the 
ancient type, getting up some interest 
in them, which is not forgotten; this 
enables me to write more intelligently 
of them than otherwise. Two very re- 
markable churches of an early period 
came under my observation, that also 
possess some historical interest, that may 
be worthy of notice here. In December 
of 1886, I was in Charleston, S. C„ two 
and one-half months after the terrible 
earthquake that befell that city.passing 
through its streets, where buildings on 
both sides were shattered, and many 
leveled with the ground. Two very ven- 
erable structures met my eye, a short 
distance apart. The first, St. Michael's 
church, was completed in 1761, and was 
10 years in process of construction. 
This old house of worship was badly 
shaken up, and its condition made it 
doubtful whether it could be repaired. 
Its tall tower was in a leaning condi- 
tion, and was badly fractured through 
its whole length, and was declared un- 
safe to remain, but subsequently was 
righted up and repaired and declared 
safe. This tower can be seen far out 
in the surrounding country, and a long 
distance out to sea. It has been used 
as a view point and signal tower, from 
the days of the Revolution. It was 

60 



here that the Patriots watched the 
British fleets as they sailed into the 
harbor, and it served the same purpose 
in the War of 1812, and from it, night 
and day, the Confederates kept a 
watchful eye out for the Federal forces, 
that one time or another assailed the 
sacred precincts of the city. 
For this, it is held in much veneration 
for its long- historical record, by the 
people of that ancient town. The inte- 
rior shows its age, although well kept 
and preserved. Its high pulpit, 
chancel and rail and substantial pews, 
all denote an edifice of more than ordi- 
nary character, but its condition as I 
saw it, from the effects of the earth- 
quake was terrible, and it is most re- 
markable that the whole structure did 
not fall to the ground. As I went 
through the doorway, over the debris of 
shattered columns and doors, and 
climbed in the porch over the uprooted 
floor timbers into the auditorium, a 
scene presented itself almost indescrib- 
able, the floors torn up in all directions, 
with the great floor timbers thrust 
up through the floor, standing partially 
on end, and some of them at least 12 
inches square of oak, splintered and 
broken into many shapes, the pews 
thrown up on end, broken into 
kindling wood, and covered by the 
fallen ceiling and overhead finish, 
and the broken chandeliers and glass 
of the windows made it almost impos- 
sible to get far into the church. The 
walls being of wood and having a very 
strong frame, stood quite firm through 
all this havoc, and it is reported that it 
has been thoroughly repaired and re- 

61 



stored, and is said to be complete in 
every particular, good for another cen- 
tury. 

The other structure, St. Philip's 
church, was built in 1838, in place of 
the original one built in 1681, destroyed 
by Are. It is the oldest church and 
parish organization in the South, where 
continuous services have been held 
from the first settlement of the country 
to the present time. This is a hand- 
some, substantial building, and has a 
very tall steeple, and is said to be the 
finest, architecturally, in the world, and 
through its commanding height and ar- 
tistic proportions, always attracts the 
eye of strangers entering the city by 
land or water. In 1894 the Federal gov- 
ernment placed a light of great power 
near its top, reaching far out to sea, en- 
abling vessels at night to enter the 
harbor of Charleston. This is known 
as St. Philip's light, and the old sex- 
ton of the church, who has occupied 
that position for more than 50 years, 
attends to the light and has never 
failed, rain or shine, to mount the high 
staircase every evening at sunset, to 
light the great lamp in its lofty perch. 

When the city was bombarded in the 
Civil War, the steeples of these 
churches escaped with slight damage, 
but the great shake-up of 1886 shat- 
tered this, rather more than its older 
neighbor,and it had to be partially taken 
down for repairs. Since, it has been 
thoroughly repaired and is no doubt 
now, as formerly, an elegant and digni- 
fied house of worship. Both of these 
venerable structures are associated 
with the long and eventful history of 



62 



the city and state, and are held as pre- 
cious relics of the past. In the church- 
yard adjoining St. Philip's are buried 
some of the most distinguished and em- 
inent men found in the history of South 
Carolina, who in their day worshiped 
in this church. The epitaphs upon the 
monuments and tablets are very inter- 
esting reading, and it was with intense 
interest that I stood over these graves 
and read the epitaphs of men, whom 
from boyhood up, I had read and heard 
about, who had occupied at various 
times prominent places in the govern- 
ment of our country. The first to be 
seen on entering is that of Charles 
Cotesworth Pinckney of Revolutionary 
fame, who in 1796, as commissioner to 
France, was told by that famous 
Frenchman, Talleyrand, that prelimi- 
nary to any negotiations, a gift of 
money to the French government was 
necessary, and that a refusal would 
bring on war. Pinckney is said to have 
replied, "War be it then, millions for 
defense, but not one cent for tribute." 
Near this stands the monument of Rob- 
ert Y. Hayne of senatorial notoriety, 
to whom, in reply.Daniel Webster made 
that ever memorable speech in 1830, in 
the United States senate in defense of 
the Union. Another, not far away, is 
the monument of one who long held 
high position in the councils of the na- 
tion, and who is not yet forgotten, John 
C. Calhoun. It is stated that during 
the Rebellion, when it became apparent 
that the Federals might capture the 
city, his body was exhumed and carried 
outside the city, for fear that it would 
be taken up by Union soldiers, but 



63 



later, when the danger had passed, it 
was returned to its original resting 
place, where it now is. Other men of 
national reputation rest here, Randolph, 
Preston and the Gadsdens. Many 
names are found on its tombstones of 
political notoriety, who in their day 
were much heard of, and have a place 
in political history. In fact, this 
churchyard contains the remains of as 
much of South Carolina's chivalry, if 
not more, than any other in that state. 
No one going to Charleston should fail 
to visit these famous churches and this 
churchyard. 

The old meeting house in my native 
/ town is remembered pretty well, and 
I have not forgotten how it looked when 
my mother took me to meeting there, 
nearly three-quarters of a century ago, 
the old style pulpit standing on pillars 
painted white, with an entrance from 
the side, and the high pews with doors, 
and the long row of singers in the gal- 
lery over the porch, with their accom- 
paniments of bass viols, violins and 
clarionets, and then I have not forgot- 
ten being seated on the end seat, my 
head below the top railing of the pew, 
and my feet not reaching down to the 
floor. The only person outside of the 
pew to be seen was the minister when 
he arose to begin service, and then to 
be compelled to sit in an uncushioned 
seat through the long service of an hour 
and a half at least, not being allowed 
to move about, and having been told 
before leaving home that if I did not 
behave well, the tithingman, an impor- 
tant church official of those days, 
would get hold of me, with this admo- 

64 



nition and the keeping an eye out for 
him, did not to my young mind, pro- 
mote a favorable desire to go to meet- 
ing, but this was the fate of the infant 
class, as they all had to go to meeting 
as soon as they could walk. 

This house completed in 1822, in style 
of construction, shows some advance 
over those of the 18th century, but in 
general outlines the plan of that period 
is preserved. Its high and handsome 
steeple gives the whole a stately ap- 
pearance. No carpets or cushions were 
seen in those early days, with the ex- 
ception, perhaps, of a few wealthy 
persons who were able to add these 
comforts to their pews. The floors in 
the country meeting house of that time 
were generally bare. In the progress of 
later times this old home church has 
been enlarged and modernized in every 
respect, having every comfort of the 
modern church of today, and is well 
cared for and preserved. 

The mode of worship and customs 
prevailing in the old Puritan meeting 
houses at the beginning of this cen- 
tury, and for an indefinite period before, 
were peculiar and somewhat inter- 
esting. In early times, it was 
the practice of the more influential 
families to go to meeting in a formal 
and reverential manner, led by the 
head of the family, followed by all the 
members of the household, in accord- 
ance with age, accompanied by guests 
of the house, followed by the servants, 
as none were permitted to remain at 
home, and when in the meeting, the 
men sitting on one side of the house 
and the women on the other side on 



benches, after the fashion of a Quaker 
meeting^ house, the deacons sitting in 
front of the pulpit, on elevated seats 
prepared for them. Later some of the 
important and dignified members were 
permitted to build pews for themselves, 
that their families might sit together. 
There were very serious contentions 
over the matter of seating the meet- 
ing house, to decide who, through their 
standing in society, was best entitled 
to the highest seats, leaving the com- 
mon people to sit on benches as before, 
the young folks in the gallery, and the 
colored people and servants on seats 
in the galleries or under the stairways 
prepared for them. This appears to 
have been the rule and practice govern- 
ing attendance upon public worship 
in the ancient meeting houses a century 
and a half ago, and then it was, that 
important church official, the tithing- 
man, became a necessary adjunct to 
good order and quiet in meeting. That 
official I remember seeing when I first 
went to meeting. He was an officer of 
much dignity and consequence, whose 
duty it was to see what good order was 
preserved in meeting, and that the 
young people in the galleries behaved 
themselves, and armed with a long i)ole 
a symbol of his authority, to go about 
and keep awake those of the congrega- 
tion inclined to sleep during- the ser- 
vice. In short, he appears to have been 
general director and regulator in meet- 
ing, and besides he was to see that the 
people came regularly to meeting, and 
did not labor or travel on the Lord's 
Day. 

In these days no instrumental music 



66 



was permitted to enter into the ser- 
vice, nor was there any organized 
choir or body of singers in any of 
these houses of worship down to this 
century, and in many much later. In-^ 
strumental or vocal music as a sci- 
ence was not taught in New England 
towns in these early days, so that in 
congregations few could sing by note 
or otherwise. Very little singing or" 
music of any kind, — and that of very 
unmusical sort, — had any part in the 
services. In its absence, the minister 
would read a psalm or hymn, then 
the deacon, whose seat was elevated 
above the congregation, would line it 
by repeating, and so on through all 
the lines. When it so happened that 
a few could sing, then the same offi- 
cer would pitch the tune, after which 
the minister would read a chapter in 
the Bible and expound its meaning, 
then the usual prayer, all standing, 
of considerable length. Sometimes an 
hour was consumed in this petition, 
and then the sermon divided into a 
number of heads, from firstly to 
tenthly, taking an hour and a half, 
and on important occasions two 
hours for delivery; then after an in- 
termission of an hour or more, the 
afternoon service would take place, 
of about the same length as the morn- 
ing service, so the day must have 
been well consumed in prayers and 
sermons. Consider the short winter \ 
days, with no fire to warm the meet- 
inghouse, and many of the attend- 
ants living some distance away, com- 
ing to meeting on cold Sunday morn- 



ings with no place to warm them- 
selves in, must have tried their faith 
severely, but they came just the same, 
old and young, as they were all ex- 
pected to put in an appearance, and 
if they were not there, the minister 
or deacon would give them a call to 
learn the cause of non-attendance. It 
is quite difficult to believe that gen- 
erations of people, for two centuries 
at least, in New England, attended 
divine worship in buildings without 
artificial heat in them, during the 
long winters in this severe climate, 
but it is nevertheless a fact, and 
there are those living who remem- 
ber this through experience. No heat- 
ing apparatus of any description was 
put into any meetinghouse in this 
state, with the exception of Boston 
and its near vicinity, as far as known, 
until two decades in this century had 
passed, as was the case in the old 
meetinghouse here in Fitchburg, and 
in the meetinghouse in Ashburnham. 
In my native town the meeting- 
house was not provided with any ar- 
tificial heat for twelve years after its 
erection, and I have not forgotten 
carrying my mother's footstove to 
keep her feet warm during that 
period. I can hardly conceive how it 
was possible without great danger 
to health, and it would not be endured 
now, nor would it be permitted, but it 
is not yet three score years since this 
condition existed in meetinghouses in 
this commonwealth, and when the 
movement was begun in many places 
to introduce artificial heat into their 



houses of worship, it met with much 
opposition, as was the case in Ash- 
burnham. Tn my town the opposition 
prevented for some time its introduc- 
tion. This came from a few radical, 
orthodox members, whose objections 
Avere that it would make the air in the 
room bad, and unhealthy, and as their 
fathers and mothers had got along 
without it they saw no reason why 
they could not get along without it 
in the same way, but the needed heat 
got there at last, and I remember see- 
ing the stoves put in. They were large, 
box stoves to burn wood, and were lo- 
cated in the porch, with long strings 
of funnel running through the audi- 
torium. They warmed the church very 
well for a number of years, and later 
hot air furnaces were substituted. It 
is a fact that on the first Sunday after 
the stoves were in place that one of 
the chief opponents went out of meet- 
ing during the service. He was asked 
why he went out; he replied that his 
head ached severely, that he mu»t 
go out to get some fresh air. He said 
it was just as he had predicted, the 
air in the room was very bad, all in 
consequence of the heat from the 
stoves. But it so happened that this 
October day was unusually warm, and 
no fire was needed, and none had 
been built; if the air was bad it could 
not have come from the stoves and 
could not be charged to them. Evi- 
dently this complainant's opposition 
to the heating of the meetinghouse 
had so worked on his imagination that 
his physical health was affected more 



69 



or less by the thought of this infrac- 
tion upon the sanctity of God's house. 
The fact was that any innovation or 
change proposed in the customs or 
conditions of the sanctuary, met with 
much opposition. To propose any 
measure of relief from the ancient 
practices of their fathers was sacri- 
lege to many, and caused much fric- 
tion in church councils. 

Previous to any movement being 
made to warm the meetinghouse, mem- 
bers in some of the parishes who re- 
sided at a distance from the meeting- 
house, and who desired to remain for 
the afternoon service, and who felt the 
need of some place to warm them- 
selves and their families, built near 
the meetinghouse a building, called a 
noon house, with one or more fire- 
places in it; the wood needed was 
brought from the occupants' farms. 
This afforded them a place to warm 
themselves and partake of the lunch 
brought from home, but in places 
where no provision was made for 
this purpose, it was the custom of the 
women and children to go to some 
near neighbor, or to the minister's 
house, which was in those days of 
considerable size, and the men went 
to the tavern to eat their lunch brought 
with them, and wash it down with 
hot flip, prepared by the landlord, and 
talk over general affairs and news of 
the day. This was the winter experi- 
ences of the faithful church attend- 
ants in rural New England in the first 
years of the century, and had come 
down from much earlier times. At 



70 



this period the town and the parish 
were one and the same, and the min- 
ister had about all the families in 
town under his care; excepting the 
few who had broken away from the 
old establishment, and formed some 
other church then starting up in some 
places. He kept good watch over their 
spiritual condition, and over the gen- 
eral conduct of the households, and to 
help him, besides his deacons, the 
tythingman, who in addition to his 
duties in the meetinghouse, was to go 
about in town and see if they kept 
the Sabbath properly, and went to 
meeting, and to allow no one to per- 
foim any labor on the Lord's day, and 
if any person was seen riding, unless 
he was going to meeting, it was his 
duty to stop him and inquire why he 
was traveling on that day, and if no 
sufficient excuse was offered, he would 
be brought into court and either fined 
or sent to jail. All these old Sunday 
laws were strictly enforced. No farmer 
could safely get in his hay, to save it, 
without danger of prosecution, and no 
other occupation could be carried on, 
no matter what the exigency might 
be, without being in danger of arrest, 
and not a few were brought up and 
punished for slight offences on the 
Lord's day, within my remembrance. 
These Sunday blue laws, as they were 
called, were rigidly enforced, although 
public opinion had set in against their 
extreme enforcement. In Connecticut 
it was said that these Sunday laws 
were more arbitrary than in this 
state, and existed longer in actual 



force, but the opening of the railroads, 
and the growing progressive spirit of 
later times, relieved the community 
from many of these exactions. While 
some of these old blue laws remain on 
the statute book of the state, they are 
practically a dead letter, and with 
their going out of use the tythingman 
went with them, and no such officer 
finds employment in these days. 

I will her relate one of the experi- 
ences of one of these officers, as he 
told it in my hearing, some years after 
its occurrence, with considerable 
amusement. He said that on one Sun- 
day, late in the afternoon, from his 
residence he spied a team of four 
horses coming up the highway. To 
do his duty he at once went out, and 
stopped the team, and demanded of 
the driver why he was on the high- 
way on the Lord's day. The teamster 
replied that he had the day before 
been below with a load of goods, and 
on account of the storm that set in 
he could not return on the same day. 
As it was near sundown he ventured 
to start on his way home, as it was 
quite necessary for him to get there 
as soon as possible, but his explana- 
tion did not satisfy this sharp officer, 
who ordered him to go no farther 
than the tavern, which was on the 
road just beyond, and put up his 
team for the night; this the teamster 
did. When about to start in the morn- 
ing, he told the landlord who sent him 
there, and he supposed he would pay 
the tavern bill, and then went on his 
way home. In due time the bill was 



72 



presented to the worthy tythingman 
for payment, and finally he paid it, as 
he found he had no authority short 
of the order of the court to contract 
the bill. He kept this receipted bill 
for a long time, and used to show it 
as evidence of his experience as a 
tythingman. 

In early times the office of deacon 
was held in great respect and rever- 
ence, as he stood next to the minister 
in all church matters. There were 
then in the old Puritan church two 
deacons, the oldest taking precedence. 
They were men of high standing and 
dignity in the community, and were 
given prominent seats in the meet- 
inghouse, but this custom of special 
seats for the deacons had passed away 
before my time, as nothing of the kind 
appeared to me in my going to meet- 
ing. The senior deacon was expected 
to aid the minister, to watch over the 
conduct of members, and see that they 
attended meeting and that their chil- 
dren in their homes were properly in- 
structed in the Catechism and Gospel 
Primer, and that all infants without 
delay be brought to the minister for 
baptism, and if any failed to comply 
with this rule of the church to report 
it to the minister. It will be seen the 
spiritual well-being of the community 
was pretty well looked after and 
guarded in the early days of some of 
us, and probably in generations be- 
fore our time. 

The minister, beside his clerical du- 
ties, was expected to look after the 
schools; no special superintendent of 



schools was employed in those days. 
He was very generally chairman of 
the school committee and practically 
had charge of the schools. I have not 
forgotten his coming to our district 
school in the old school house. When 
he made his appearance in the door- 
way we were instructed to rise, and 
remain standing until he was seated, 
and we were further told that when- 
ever we might meet him to take off 
our caps and make a bow, and the girls 
were to salute by a curtsey, and it 
was the custom in school and at home 
to teach children respect and rever- 
ence, not only for the minister, but for 
aged persons. Judging from appear- 
ances, some of the young people of the 
present day are not instructed much in 
this excellent rule, at least, it is not 
much observed. The good old minister 
of these bygone days was highly re- 
spected, and due respect was paid co 
his calling. He was expected to take 
a leading part on all special occasions, 
and an interest in the affairs of the 
town, and for all his labors in behalf 
of the community over which he was 
settled, his annual salary in the towns 
of New England did not average $500 
per year, and it was a very rare case 
where the salary went up to $1000, but 
it was the custom in some of the towns 
for the more generous members of his 
fllock, to aid him by gifts from the 
products of the farm and otherwise. 
This was about the limit of salaries 
paid the clergy in the first 40 years of 
this century. Comparing the same 
with the standard of the present time, 
it appears rather small, and the faith- 

74 



ful minister of those days must have 
had a hard time to make both ends 
meet, and lay up something for old 
age, but somehow he got along, and 
maintained the dignity of his calling, 
and left a good record where called to 
labor. 

About the close of the first quarter of 
the cenutry, greater interest in the 
music of the church service was felt, 
and a demand for improvement was 
everywhere being made. The vocal mu- 
sic, up to this time, w^as irregular and 
imperfectly organized and trained; to 
aid the vocal, instrumental music was 
introduced. The double bass viol and 
single bass, the clarionet and violin 
made their appearance in meeting, and 
with the somewhat skilled leader of 
those times, succeeded in improving 
the musical part, and rendered the 
services more interesting to the 
younger portion of the community. But 
some of the older members did not ap- 
preciate the change, the instruments 
were quite objectionable to them, and 
they met with considerable opposition. 
Like the opponents of the stoves, while 
the air in the meeting house was not 
affected by these instruments, the 
sanctity of the service was, as they 
were associated with things not con- 
genial to the Lord's House. The violin 
was especially objectionable, as it was 
used in dancing. These were serious 
objections to these pious people, and 
they made a strong fight in many 
places against their admission, but fi- 
nally they were admitted. Later the 
church organ appeared, and gradually 
found its way into the meeting houses 

75 



of the country, superseding the objec- 
tionable instruments. The large choirs 
organized, with the aid of instrumental 
music, made up of the young men and 
women of the town, whose musical 
knowledge had been obtained in sing- 
ing schools, then kept in the villages 
by itinerant singing masters, who made 
it their business in the winter months 
to organize schools in various places, 
charging a small fee. No vocal or in- 
strumental music was taught in the 
public schools, and very few musical 
instruments, such as pianos and house 
organs were to be found in any of the 
homes in our country villages. 

I remember when a lad, the first pi- 
ano that came to my town, and its ar- 
rival excited considerable interest and 
curiosity, and was said to have been 
brought over from the old country, 
I have not forgotten sitting under the 
open windows of the house where it 
was, on a summer's evening, to hear it 
played, and how its wonderfully fine 
music captivated me. 

It was about this period in the thir- 
ties that music began to interest the 
people, and from this time on its 
progress and development in communi- 
ties was rapid and soon became an im- 
portant element in the education of the 
young, and its effect produced a de- 
mand for higher attainments in church 
music, and with the introduction of 
church organs the services in the 
meeting house were greatly improved 
and rendered more attractive. It was 
about this time that full brass bands 
Avere being organized in many of the 
larger places. Previous to this the 



re 



bugle, clarionet, fife and drum consti- 
tuted the average band for street mu- 
sic. In Boston larger organizations of 
this character had been in existence 
some time prior to this time. The 
church organs and regular organized 
choirs were a part of church service in 
Europe long before their existence in 
this country. The people of New Eng- 
land in these early times moved slowly, 
and were of a conservative tempera- 
ment, and economic in their disposi- 
tion and habits, and through the lack 
of accumulated wealth in their com- 
munities, slow progress was made to- 
ward higher intellectual and social de- 
velopment, and not until the mighty 
discoveries and inventions of this par- 
ticular age began to open up their 
wonderful powers, did they take on a 
quicker pace, and a larger conception 
of the material advance then in prog- 
ress, that has produced such remarka- 
ble results in the last 50 years. 

In pursuance of a law of this com- 
monwealth, three score and 10 years 
ago, the service in the meeting house 
was occasionally rendered more in- 
teresting and attracted considerable 
attention, at least, from a portion of 
the congregation, and it may be of 
interest to the young men and women 
of today to hear about it. Their fathers 
and mothers, at least some of them, 
may remember it from actual experi- 
ence. A law was in force in this state 
for very many years before this cen- 
tury, and for 40 years of this, requir- 
ing the town or city clerk, before he 
could grant a certificate permitting 
marriage, the application of the par- 



ties must first be orally published in 
some public assembly or congreg-ation 
for three successive weeks. Previous 
to the issuing of the same, a church 
congregation was always selected, 
there to announce the names of the 
parties and their intentions, so that if 
any one knew of any objections to the 
proposed marriage, they could make it 
known. If no proper objections were 
filed with the clerk at the end of the 
three weeks, the clerk could issue the 
necessary certificate. In this way, it 
will be seen that getting married in 
those early times could not legally take 
place in a private and hasty manner. 
Our forefathers evidently deemed the 
matter of matrimony of considerable 
importance, and that the public had a 
right beforehand to know about it. 
This is the rule in the Roman Catholic 
church at the present time. The mem- 
bers of the church intending marriage 
must first be announced from the altar 
by the priest on three successive Sun- 
days, before marriage can take place. 
This, to my mind, is a proper rule, and 
tends to prevent undesirable and hasty 
marriage. This requirement subjected 
the parties to much notoriety and gos- 
sip, and before the wedding day ar- 
rived the matter was pretty thorough- 
ly canvassed. 

I remember in my boyhood, in our 
meeting house, the town clerk standing 
in his pew at the close of the service, 
reading some of these marriage inten- 
tions, as it was the custom of this ofll- 
cer to read them, but in some other 
places, as it was in Pitchburg,the min- 
ister read them from the pulpit. In this 



78 



public way, marriage intentions were 
published some time before marriage 
could legally take place. 

Somewhere in the 30s, this law was 
changed to posting these official notices 
of marriage in some public place, usu- 
ally on the church, for three weeks re- 
quired by the law. The box containing 
these publishments was a very attrac- 
tive place on Sundays, and drew large 
attention. In 1850, this law was re- 
pealed, since then a certificate can be 
granted by the city or town clerk, upon 
application, if the proper fee is forth- 
coming. 

Another oldtime custom existed In 
my youthful days, that went out of 
practice half a century ago. This was 
tolling the church bell on the death of 
a person within the limits of the town. 
In my town, it was the practice, if the 
death occurred after sunset, to toll the 
bell at sunrise the next morning, if af- 
ter sunrise, at sunset of the same day. 
If the person was a male, three times 
three was struck, if female, twice three, 
and their age was tolled out in full, 
and at the time of their funeral, when 
the funeral train approached the cem- 
etery, if near the church, the bell was 
tolled until the body was deposited in 
the grave. This custom came down, I 
suppose, from very early times, and 
was very generally practiced in the 
towns of New England up to the mid- 
dle of this century. 

These miscellaneous obsei^^ations of 
our forefathers, and their ancient meet- 
ing houses and customs, made up from 
old records and personal memory, al- 
though crude and indefinite, may serve 



79 



to recall to the minds of persons of 
three score and ten years, many of the 
peculiar customs and beliefs existing 
in their early life, and of the great 
change that has taken place in the last 
half of the century in church condi- 
tions and affairs. This change is so 
great that it is difficult to measure its 
extent and importance in the work of 
the church at the present time. 

The old time spirit of bigotry and in- 
tolerance has largely passed away, and 
a more charitable and generous feeling 
exists between the various branches 
of the Christian church in this coun- 
try, and church creeds and doctrines 
are less recognized and essential in re- 
ligious work than formerly, and that 
the great religious thought and senti- 
ment of the country is rapidly moving 
along on a higher and broader plane of 
Christian duty, and has caught the 
spirit of the mighty progress now going 
forward in the present age, and I ven- 
ture to say, nowhere under the sun, 
exists a country that has made greater 
progress toward the uplifting of its 
people, than in our own beloved land in 
the century just ended. 

Among the remarkable things that 
came into existence from the great dis- 
coveries and inventions of the first half 
of the century was the successful ap- 
plication of steam power in propelling 
sea-going ships. This, in its effect on 
the commerce of the world, has proved 
of as much importance (if not more) as 
the great transportation lines of rail- 
ways are to business on land. The ap- 
plication of steam in sailing vessels 
was begun early in the century; river 



80 



boats, small coast-wise vessels and 
lake boats were successfully run by this 
power, but not until 1837 or '38 did any 
ship attempt to cross the ocean. In 
1836 the Sirios was built in Bristol, 
England, 170 feet long, 270-horse power, 
tonnage 700, and her quickest passage 
was 18 days, 11 hours and 15 minutes. 
The Great Western, built in 1838 at 
Bristol, was 212 feet long and 35 feet 
and 4 inches broad, 1340 tons burden, 
and had engines of 450-horse power. 
She sailed from Bristol for New York 
in that year, and had paddle wheels and 
regular ship- rig. Subsequently, if I 
remember rightly, this shop was lost. 
In 1840 the Cunard Steamship company 
sailed its first vessel into Boston harbor 
from Liverpool, the Brittania. She was 
a paddle boat 207 feet long, 35 feet 
broad, 450-horse power, tonnage 1155, 
and consumed 15 days on her first 
passage. All these vessels were built 
of wood. Ten years later, the Inman 
line sent an iron screw steamer, the 
City of Glasgow, of 1600 tons burden, of 
350 nominal horse power, to New York 
from Liverpool, the first ship of this 
kind to come to this country. No ships 
of the Cunard line went to New York 
until 1848. Down to this time no 
steamship crossed the ocean flying the 
Stars and Stripes. A short time later 
the Collins line of American steamships 
under our flag sailed from New York 
for Liverpool; some four or five ships 
composed the line and were, on the av- 
erage, the fastest vessels afloat, but 
they lost two of their ships, and the 
lack of remunerative business com- 
pelled a suspension, and finally the line 



went out of existence. During- this 
period a few other ships crossed the 
ocean, but were unsuccessful, and one 
or two were lost. In this beginning of 
steamship navigation, in the first 
decades of this century, like railroad 
transportation, lacked the confidence 
and support of the public. Very few 
people in the first 20 years patronized 
the steamship and took pleasure trips 
to the old country, as is now the case. 
The risk of the trip across the wide 
ocean, and the rough experience told 
by those who tried it in the small ships 
of that time, was a considerable barrier 
in the way of European travel in 
steamships of that day, but the last 
half of the century has so developed the 
powder and size of the ships, and made 
so many improvements in the vessels 
and their fittings, that a trip across 
the big water is a holiday affair, and 
taken for pleasure and sight-seeing by 
thousands of our people every year. 
The importance of the steamship as a 
commercial factor is now fully deter- 
mined, and is seen on all the great wa- 
ters, and in all the marts of the world, 
and like that other great agent, the 
railroad, whose power comes from the 
same source, and which in the century 
just ended, was first brought to light 
and developed, has within this period, 
revolutionized and enlarged the great 
commercial interests of nations, and 
carried civilization and better condi- 
tions to mankind everywhere in the 
known world. 

A few reminiscences about steam- 
ships sailing out of Boston in these 
early days of the century may not be 



82 



uninteresting- here. This winter of 1844 
was an exceedingly cold season, and 
the Boston harbor froze up solid, so 
that an ice embargo fell on all shipping 
in port, none could go out or come in. 
This lasted for weeks and was a sore 
hindrance to the commerce of the port. 
The Cunard steamship Brittania was 
one of the vessels frozen in, and 
as her sailing day approached, Feb. 1, 
the papers were full of misgivings as 
to the probable serious delay in send- 
ing her out to sea, as it looked as if the 
ice blockade had become complete and 
threatened to continue. The mer- 
chants of the city, under Mayor Martin 
Brimmer, took the matter up and de- 
cided that the steamer should at once 
be cut out without expense to the 
Steamship company, and sent to sea- 
Two channels were cut, one from East 
Boston ferry out to open sea, the other 
from the ferry to India wharf. This 
work was promptly done, and the ship 
sailed on Feb. 3, following, a delay of 
only two days from its date of sailing. 
It was an event that attracted great 
interest at the time, and thousands 
were said to have witnessed the prog- 
ress of the work, and the sailing of the 
ship out through the narrow channel 
prepared for her; and then again in 
1857, in January, the steamship America 
was frozen in and a channel had to be 
cut to enable her to depart. I was 
in the city at this time and went with 
the multitude to see the sight. Stand- 
ing on a wharf in full view of the large 
number of men employed to cut the 
channel, and the ship as she passed 
very slowly out, and seeing the hun- 



83 



dreds of people down the harbor on the 
ice to witness the sailing-, and the large 
number of teams of all descriptions out 
there on the ice, was in itself quite a 
scene, and is not forgotten. The har- 
bor was frozen solid as far as my eye 
could reach and was a wintery sig-ht. 
The weather, I remember, was extreme- 
ly cold, and no prospect appeared that 
it was going to let up. Another little 
incident that occurred later, in 1846, 
which I remember very well, of a per- 
sonal nature, may be worth telling-. In 
June of that year I was stopping- in 
Boston. On a very pleasant Sunday 
morning, one of a party of young men 
with w^hom I was in company, sug- 
gested that we go over to East Boston 
and see the Cunard steamship sail. This 
was g^ladly accepted, and we w^ent over 
to the island ward to see that which 
we country boys had not had the chance 
to see before, a curiosity in those days, 
as not many of that kind of sailing 
craft were afloat in this country, or any 
other. The ship was to have sailed 
the day before, but a severe easterly 
storm prevented. We arrived on the 
wharf about half an hour before the 
ship sailed. This gave us time to look 
about and see the ship. I am not quite 
sure of the name of the vessel, but 
think it was the Britannia, the first 
ship of this line to come to Boston, be- 
fore herein referred to. She w^as a 
small side wheeler of about 1100 tons, 
and was about 200 feet in length, and 
as compared with the Cunard ships of 
the present day, was a pretty small af- 
fair, and as I remember her, she might 
be easily put whole into one of the 



84 



present ships of that line. She was 
full ship rig-g-ed, carrying- full sail, as 
the confidence in her machinery was 
not fully established, and she looked 
very much like the clipper ship of that 
day in size and rigg-ing, the smoke 
stack and wheel houses showing- the 
only difference, was painted white and 
looked very neat. We were not able 
to go aboard, as none of our party had 
any friends going- to sail on her; at 
that time these regulations were strict. 
I noticed when the U. S. mail wag-on 
broug-ht the mail over, that the quan- 
tity was rather small, only what one 
small job wagon could bring-. Some dif- 
ferent from the quantity sent out now 
on one of the ships of these days. When 
the ship was about to sail, we all 
clambered onto as g-ood positions as 
could be found, so that we mig-ht see 
her back out and sail down the har- 
bor. In this I selected a corner pile of 
the wharf, standing- of course outside 
of the frame work. On the top of this 
I seated myself; there was nothing- to 
hold on to, but it seemed firmly fixed 
and safe. When the vessel backed out 
from the wharf into the stream, and in 
turning- round to head out to sea she 
fired a cannon,, which then was the 
practice, and it so happened that in 
turning-, the g-un was brought into 
rang-e with the post on which I was 
sitting-. The effect of the g-un on my 
post was to g-ive it a g-reat shake, and 
I very narrowly escaped from having 
a salt water bath, and perhaps some- 
thing- more, but I providentially es- 
caped, a g-ood deal excited, but thank- 
ful it was no worse. Since then I have 



85 



never got up on any post or pile on the 
outer edge of a wharf, but this Sunday's 
event is not forgotten and will not be 
very soon. 

At the beginning of this century, no 
regular or general system of public 
instruction prevailed in this common- 
wealth, and none had existed from 
colonial times down to this period. 
This lack of interest in education came 
from the poor condition of the people, 
who were groping along in poverty, 
since the Revolution. Their hard con- 
dition prevented any proper movement 
toward this important matter, and it 
has been stated, that as late as 1830, 
the subject of education had received 
but little attention in many places, 
and there it was made secondary to 
the church. The schools in existence 
were private, and only those who had 
the means could send their children to 
them. The fact was, the people were 
without any system of public instruc- 
tion. In some towns aid was given 
in a limited way, but in a weak and 
indifferent manner. Private high 
schools were kept in the more popu- 
lous towns, and were for those able to 
maintain them, and where, in some 
places, efforts were made to open 
schools for the benefit of the common 
people, the lack of any system of in- 
struction adapted to them, and the 
limited support given, were generally 
failures, and allowed to close up. 
Where they did get support sufficient 
to continue they were generally in 
charge of the town's minister, who 
appears in some instances to have 



considered the Gospel Primer and 
Church Catechism of as much im- 
portance as reading, writing and spell- 
ing. This was the condition of edu- 
cation at the beginning of this cen- 
tury, with little advance through its 
first two decades. At about this time, 
efforts were put forth to improve the 
matter, and the general court was 
called on for legislation in the direc- 
tion of a free public system, to be 
supported by general taxation of the 
property and polls in the state. The 
result of this demand was favorable. 
A law was passed, establishing the 
first free common schools in this state. 
In the act passed, the district plan was 
adopted, each town to be divided into 
districts, each district to be inde- 
pendent of any other, with the right to 
direct its school matters, and was a 
legal body, with power to tax the prop- 
erty and polls within the district to 
raise money sufficient to build and 
furnish proper school buildings and 
also to select a suitable teacher, sub- 
ject to the approval of the town's gen- 
eral school committee, and was to be 
paid out of the town's appropriation 
for schools. The branches taught were 
reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic, 
and geography, no higher grades were 
permissible under the law, and for 
twenty-five years after. Then the 
towns were allowed to enlarge the list 
of studies, and do away with the dis- 
trict system, which has been done very 
generally throughout the state. "Who 
of us of three score years that does 
not remember going to the district 



87 



school in our youthful days, in the 
old school house, sitting- on its plain, 
unpainted pine benches, the seats so 
hig-h from the floor that the younger 
scholars' feet could not touch the 
same, and then the old box wood stove, 
often emiting more smoke into the 
room than went up through the chim- 
ney, poorly constructed and generally 
out of repair, with no proper sanitary 
arrangements, bad ventilation, with no 
regular person employed to car^ for 
the building and build the fiifse, too 
small for the number of scholars at- 
tending, often fifty scholars crowded 
into a room where thirty or forty 
would have been enough to get along 
comfortably, of all ages from four to 
twenty years old. Young men and 
women as large as the teacher, all in 
one room, being confined there from 
9 a. m. to 4 p. m., and sometimes 
longer, with one hour out at noon for 
recreation and lunch, and this for five 
days at least in the week, for not less 
than an average term of three months. 
No vacation was allowed during- the 
term, unless an epidemic broke out in 
school, then for the shortest time pos- 
sible. No storm was so great as to 
prevent the school from keeping. If a 
great snow storm came, blocking up 
the roads, the farmers would turn out 
with their oxen, and soon open them 
for travel, so the school went on just 
the same, as the teacher was paid by 
the week or month, and then on ac- 
count of the limited money appropri- 
ated, the term was necessarily short, 
and some of the families wanted their 



88 



older children at home, to assist in 
supporting- the family, not feeling able 
to keep them in school for so long a 
term. No compulsory laws then existed 
compelling the parents to send their 
children to school. These were days 
of pretty limited means in many house- 
holds, and it was a severe tax upon 
them to provide the necessary school 
books and supplies for their children, 
which they were required to do. This 
was no doubt why the average citi- 
en in town meeting was slow in voting 
liberal appropriations for schools. 

Under these narrow conditions and 
circumstances the old district school 
of our early days, when in charge of a 
competent teacher, did good work for 
the time and means to do with, and 
taught the rudiments of an education 
to many young men, who went out into 
the world to fight the battle of life 
with no higher schooling, and gained 
success. This was the extent of the 
advantages of the free public school 
system of this old commonwealth 
three score years ago, and those who 
went to them in those early days may 
remember something about them, at 
least, they have not forgotten some 
of the exercises not laid down in the 
rules. The hard fisted farmer boy, 
who had been confined to the farm 
through the season, to get away for a 
while was rest and recreation for him, 
and he came to school more interested 
in having a good time than to study 
much. Then if anything was going on 
among his fellows, he wanted to be 
be in it. If the master did not suit 



89 



them they laid their plans to get rid 
of him, and the first their parents 
knew the master was put out of the 
school room. Some one of them would 
disobey the rules, and when brought 
up for correction his fellows would 
take his part, and then the struggle 
would be to see which was master. 
These things were of common occur- 
rence in my school days, and in some 
of the farming districts many a teacher 
lost his job because he could not gov- 
ern the turbulent elements and often 
the schools were closed for want of a 
master who could control them. This 
class of young men generally came 
from homes which rather encouraged 
such things, as their boys, in their 
eyes, were stalwart bullies, and could 
whip anything that came along, but 
masters were found equal to the occa- 
sion, and no school within my knowl- 
edge remained closed. These troubles 
arose in most instances in isolated 
districts, among people of little in- 
telligence, and from a lack of proper 
discipline in the home, but for all 
theis, the district school in those day« 
did the work assigned to it, and laid 
the foundation for a larger and more 
liberal system of education, which to- 
day is made compulsory, and every 
child in our old commonwealth has 
the benefit of the highest grade schoola 
free, a marked difference between the 
opportunities possessed by the youth 
of the first half century as compared 
with those of the present age. The 
youth of this generation goes to school 
in palatial buildings, equipped with 



90 



every convenience and comfort, is pro- 
vided with all books and stationery- 
free of cost, and is often transported 
from his home and back, that he may 
get the advantages of graded schools, 
giving to every child in the common- 
wealth a high grade education, with- 
out price, free to all. A remarkable 
advance since the school days of 
many of us, when we were obliged to 
trudge on to school from one to three 
miles to reach the school house, rain 
or shine, and winter storms, and take 
along the books we had to buy, show- 
ing the wonderful progress made in 
the matter of education within the 
century. 

The old-time spelling school was an 
important adjunct to the district 
school. When the boys and girls came 
together in the school house on a win- 
ter's evening for a social time, and 
held a spelling match. This should not 
be forgotten. These spelling schools 
were generally very pleasant and 
agreeable occasions, and were not 
without considerable profit in learn- 
ing to spell correctly, when in charge 
of a good master. I imagine they are 
not yet forgotten by some of us of 
those old times. I remember them as 
lively gatherings. When the school 
house was built no thought occurred 
to the builders that any evening gath- 
erings would be held in them, so noth- 
ing was provided to light the building. 
To supply the necessary light each 
scholar brought from home his light, 
this supplied the need, the tallow can- 
dle largely predominating, as this waa 



91 



the chief light found in the farmers' 
home. When they were lig-hted, and 
with a red hot stove on a cold winter's 
nig-ht, in a poorly ventilated room, it 
did not improve the air therein, but 
this did not prevent an interesting 
time, and was not taken into account. 
It will be remembered that in these 
schools the practice was to choose 
sides from all present, the master 
generally selected the two leading 
scholars to choose the members of 
their respective sides. When this was 
completed, the master would, from a 
common spelling book, give out the 
words alternately from one side to the 
other. When a scholar failed to spell 
the word correctly, it went over to the 
other side, and continued from side 
to side until it was correctly spelled. 
Those who failed to spell right went 
to the foot of their respective sides, 
and so on to the end of the lesson for 
that evening, then those standing at 
the head of the respective sides at the 
close were accounted the best spellers, 
and they went home elated over their 
success, and the parents at home felt 
happy over the good standing of their 
children. The results were profitable 
and the time well spent, and many 
were made good spellers.' But these 
schools have very generally passed 
out of use, probably not considered 
necessary in these days of high grade 
schools, but judging from the spelling 
of some of the scholars of our high 
schools, we might suggest that it 
would be a good plan to re-establish 
spelling schools in Fitchburg. I have 



92 



not forg-otten the interest taken in 
these schools, and I always attended 
them. Writing- was then an import- 
ant exercise in the district schools. 
We were required to bring- our writing 
books, ink and pens; no metal pens 
were then in use anywhere, and were 
unknown in the country villages. 
Goose quills were the only thing- known 
to write with, and the master had to 
instruct us in the art of making- a 
good pen. This necessitated a pen- 
knife, so each of the scholars had to 
get one, but the mischief was, they 
did not all g-et used in making pens; 
the school benches and desks were 
operated on more or less, and were 
only saved from serious inroads upon 
their appearance through the firm- 
ness of the master. The success in 
making a good pen lay in the mechan- 
ical ability of the learner, but they all 
made out in some way to make one. 
Those who have used this kind of pen 
found it, when properly made, equal, if 
not superior, to any metal one ever 
made. This was my experience, and 
the goose quill pen will be found at 
the present day in state and legisla- 
ture departments, judges' and lawyers* 
offices and court rooms, many of the 
most important papers are yet signed 
with this class of pen. 

Beside the teaching of writing in the 
district schools, expert masters of the 
quill went through the country, keep- 
ing writing schools in the towns and 
villages; these were well patronized 
and quite popular. Vocal and instru- 
mental music was nowhere taught in 

93 



any public school in this common- 
wealth at this time, and the art was 
learned in private singing schools and 
throug-h private singing teachers. 
These were kept in many places in the 
winter evenings, and did very much 
in improving musical education, and 
supplied good singers for church 
choirs of that period. 

Another institution existed in those 
days, and was popular, but little heard 
of now, the Village Lyceum. This flour- 
ished in many New England towns 
and was for the time an important ad- 
junct to village social life. This is 
doubtless remembered by those who 
attended, and took part in them, as 
among the worthy associations of their 
earlier days, organized as reading and 
debating societies for intellectual im- 
provement, and to maintain a course 
of lectures during the winter season. 
One of these organizations existed in 
my home town for a number of years, 
and was a lively and successful asso- 
ciation, popular and brought together a 
large attendance of people of the town. 
The lectures provided were popular, 
and did much to enhance the value of 
the society. Among the lecturers who 
came to our place, I remember ex-Gov. 
Boutwell before he was governor, at 
the time, I think, he was a member of 
the State Board of Education. Gen. N. 
P. Banks, another, young, polished in 
diction and manner, and had a large 
audience. Charles Sumner came and 
gave one of his scholarly and learned 
addresses, others came, but now for- 
gotten. I took some interest in this 
association, although under 21 years 



94 



old. These societies are not much 
heard of in these days, and appear to 
have gone out of use. It is quite ap- 
parent that young men of the present 
age are more interested in the develop- 
ment of muscle, rather than the culti- 
vation of the brain; this is quite evi- 
dent in educational centers. 

As the country grew in wealth and 
population, higher grade schools were 
demanded, and high schools and acade- 
mies found a place in all the larger 
towns, and some smaller ones. They 
were private institutions, supported by 
term fees, as the town district schools 
taught only the common branches, 
these higher schools supplied the de- 
mand for a time, and when under good 
teachers and management, were suc- 
cessful. Those of us who went to the 
old academy in the forties or there- 
abouts, may look back with pleasant 
memory to those days, and call to mind 
some of the teachers and scholars with 
whom we associated and spent many 
agreeable hours. I have not forgocten 
the good old academy days from 1840 to 
'43, .and as I look back on them, my 
regret is that I did not better appre- 
ciate them. The school I attended was 
no doubt like other academies of that 
day,and pursued about the same course 
of studies. Their system of teaching 
was general in character, including 
English in all its various branches, sci- 
entific literature and the languages, 
fitting students for college. Their terms 
of admission varied according to the 
class of special studies taken outside 
of the regular course, but were reason- 
able, and opened up the opportunity for 



95 



the student oi limited means to enter 
and pursue the full course. Some of 
these institutions maintained an in- 
dustrial department, whereby the needy 
scholar could earn a portion of the 
necessary expense, and then the dis- 
trict schools in town and vicinity in 
the winter season would give to many 
employment as teachers, g-iving- them 
the means to continue their studies. 
This plan brought many from humble 
homes, who otherwise could not have 
come. In this way, with strict econo- 
my, many indigent pupils acquired a 
good academical education, and finally 
worteed themselves through college. 
This was the practice in my old acad- 
emy,and many came from various parts 
of the country; it was, in its best days, 
largely attended, and some bright 
young men came who subsequently 
made their mark in the world. One in 
particular, I remember, who came 
without money to work his way up, of 
more than ordinary ability, doing the 
chores about the principal's home for 
his board. In this way, with such else 
as he could get to support himself, he 
finally reached the goal of his ambi- 
tion, and became a prominent and suc- 
cessful attorney in Boston, and died 
prematurely, mourned by a large num- 
ber of personal and professional 
friends. Had he the same opportunity 
as offered in the present age to satisfy 
his ambition to gain a liberal educa- 
tion, it would have been at much less 
personal sacrifice and labor, illustrat- 
ing the great progress made in the last 
half century, in the ways and means of 
obtaining an education. I have some 



96 



pleasant recollections of the young 
men in the class room and in school, 
and have not forgotten some of the ex- 
ercises required, such as writing com- 
positions, and then reading them be- 
fore the school, not an agreeable task. 
Then once a month on a half day set 
apart for that purpose, we were ex- 
pected to be ready to declaim before 
the school, and such invited guests as 
happened to be present. This was no 
pleasant duty, and quite a number 
would get excused for one reason or 
another, but there was always enough 
ready for duty, that usually made the 
occasion interesting and sometimes ex- 
citing. A few would be able to deliver 
their own composition, but the larger 
number would orate from Patrick Hen- 
ry, Webster, Otis, or Chatham, and 
other orators noted in history. This 
was an interesting and profitable exer- 
cise, and much pleasant rivalry existed 
to see which gained the most applause, 
and carried off the honors. This ex- 
ercise was more or less dreaded, and we 
got excused when possible, but its im- 
portance was felt, and waswell sustained 
by the students. At the close of the year, 
the annual public examination and ex- 
hibition occurred. To us it was a 
most trying time, as the parents and 
friends of the students came from far 
and near, and with the public, usually 
crowded the house, and two days and 
an evening were consumed in various 
exercises. The closing scene would be, 
the public declamations in the evening 
before a crowded assembly, consisting 
of orations and dialogues, some of them 
composed by the students, and in addi- 



tion good music graced the occasion. 
This was always a great event for the 
town, and was looked forward to with 
much interest by the towns people, and 
the scholars and their friends. This 
was a large school of both sexes, and 
always had ample material for a suc- 
cessful exhibition, and under its able 
and wise management, reflected much 
credit on its principal and his worthy 
assistants, and while under the guid- 
ance of this coterie of teachers, it was 
a great success. In this personal ex- 
perience, I assume that the same came 
to others in this class of schools, and 
possibly someone may be present who 
had something of the same experience 
in his old academy, in by gone days. 

It was my privilege to join in a 
pilgrimage, in 1875, of the old pupils of 
Holliston Academy, that I attended, to 
the home of our old teacher in Shrews- 
bury, Mass., on his 70th birthday. It 
was a memorable occasion and one 
long to be remembered by all who were 
present, — over 200 of his former schol- 
ars were there, coming from all parts 
of New England, New York, Wisconsin, 
District of Columbia and even from 
South Carolina and Louisana for the 
purpose of tendering their greeting to 
their beloved "Master Rice," as he was 
familiarly called. 

Few of them had seen him since he 
left the Academy more than 30 years 
before and with some nearly 40 years 
had elapsed. 

Many men prominent in business 
and public life were among the number 
present. 

The sight of the greeting was a most 

98 



beautiful one, even gray-haired men in 
the fervor of their affection for the old 
gentleman were seen to imprint a kiss 
on his wrinkled brow, and the univer- 
sal hearty shake of the hand,and pleas- 
ant smiles of recognition were observ- 
able on every hand. 

Few teachers could after a lapse of 
nearly 40 years, show such a hold on 
the affectionate regards of their pupils 
as to call for such demonstration. 

Master Rice was one of the best of 
teachers and had the faculty of making 
himself understood and his kindly na- 
ture and pleasant smile endeared him 
to all who came in contact with him. 
The discipline of the school, as he ex- 
pressed it, was designed to be parental, 
and by direct appeal to the better 
principles of the heart, rather than by 
disgraceful and severe punishment, but 
if the pupil was not susceptible to such 
influence he was promptly returned to 
his friends, without unnecessary dis- 
grace. 

The day was spent in drawing on the 
treasures of memory and recalling the 
old days and men whose hair was 
growing gray, grew young again, in re- 
calling with glee the fun they used to 
have. 

Many were the pranks that were 
called to mind, like the time when one 
afternoon a load of uncut wood was 
unloaded in the back yard and the next 
morning it was found neatly piled in 
the middle of the kitchen floor, nobody 
knew who did it. 

The patient old cow of the master 
came in for attention on several oc- 
casions. Once the good doctor went 



99 



out to ride, and found old Mollie 
standing- in the wood shed harnessed 
into the sleigh, and at another time the 
old cow was in some way induced to 
go into the house and was found pa- 
tiently waiting- in the large pantry 
when the door was opened the next 
morning, and many other things were 
told. But the old master always kept 
cool and the boys never got the best 
of him and in the midst of their fun 
he always retained their sincere re- 
spect. All honor to Master Rice, that 
he moulded so many minds to high and 
noble purposes. 

The academy of these early times 
was not favored with knowledge that 
subseqently came out of the wonderful 
QW^-^ and mighty discourses that soon were 
to amaze the world and revolutionize 
the material and social concerns of 
mankind. Steam was then in its ex- 
perimental stage, and was an unde- 
veloped power. Railroads were yet 
in their infancy, and were* on trial. 
Electric telegraphs and cables were 
unknown, and the telephone was un- 
heard of. The lighting of our streets 
and pulic buildings and private dwell- 
ings with the electric current, and the 
propelling of carriages in our streets, 
rnd the running of machinery by the 
same power, was far in the distance, 
and not dreamed of and hundreds of 
other marvelous inventions were then 
entirely unknown to the student of the 
old academy, or to anybody else. None 
of these wonderful things were open 
to them for investigation and inquiry, 
such as students of later days enjoyed. 



Public libraries were practically un- 
known, the daily newspaper was no- 
where to be had, and miscellaneous 
reading matter of all sorts was not to 
be had then as now. Envelopes had 
not been invented, and all letters sent 
throug-h the postofRce were required 
to be properly folded and directed, one 
side of the letter to be reserved for 
direction, and to be securely sealed 
with sealing wax or wafers then in 
use. Gluten had not been discovered. 
The government provided no postal 
stamps of any kind, and all letters 
and other mailable matter could not 
be prepaid, the receiver of his mail 
had to par the postage or not get it. 
A letter that can now be sent over our 
entire country for two cents, then re- 
quired six and a quarter cents, for 
30 miles or less; and not exceeding 
80 miles, ten cents; not exceeding 150 
miles, twelve and one-half cents, and 
for not more than 400 miles, eighteen 
and two-thirds cents; and for all dis- 
tances beyond, twenty-five cents. To 
get a letter under these rates cost the 
person of small means quite a sum, and 
if not paid, would be sent to the dead 
letter office at Washington. The scar- 
city of ready money in may homes in 
these times, sent many letters and 
other matter to the dead letter oflftce. 
So the poor students away from home 
at the academy, found it difficult to 
carry on much correspondence with 
home and friends. It was not until 
1845 that congress, after much de- 
lay and contention established the 
present system, providing prepayment 

101 



in all cases and postal stamps of every 
needed class and dimension at rates a 
little higher than now, soon were re- 
duced to the present rates, and later 
were added postal cards of great vari- 
ety, and stamped envelopes of every 
conceivable description, and many 
other improvements for the benefit of 
the public. The young men of this 
prolific age can hardly realize the ex- 
tent of the tremendous change that 
has taken place within the last sixty 
years, and those only who have lived 
through these years can measure In 
any possible way the extent of the re- 
markable progress made during this 
period. 

The discovery and development of 
steam, telegraphy and electrical power 
within the century just ended has 
transformed and enlarged the scope of 
great material interests and affairs of 
continents, and quickened the im- 
pulses of mankind the world over. 
This may be seen in our streets, in 
our business and daily occupations, 
in our homes, in fact, everywhere we 
travel, and is growing more rapid and 
persistent as years roll on. Just ob- 
serve the tireless energy and vitality 
of the moving mass of people on our 
streets and thoroughfares, the quick 
solution of matters coming in their 
way, and the immense energy dis- 
played in pursuit of business or pleas- 
ure. The average lad of ten years is 
farther advanced in general informa- 
tion than the average youth of fif- 
teen before the days of steam and 
electricity, and the same may apply 

102 



to the adult in the same proportion. 
They all read the daily papers, go to 
the public library to look over the 
pictorials and monthlies and select 
such books as may interest them, and 
the boy o- twelve is fully posted in 
all that is going on in town and he 
observes the passing railway train as 
it rushes through his village and 
watches closely the new arrivals and 
perhaps sells a daily paper and tells 
his customer the latest telegraphic 
news. All these incidents are the 
daily educator of his mind and he 
grows up fully inoculated with the 
rushing spirit of the age. 

The boy and adult, and student at 
school, in the age before the railroads 
and steamships and telegraphs, had 
none of these wonderful things to 
stimulate and aid their education. 
Educational opportunities were very 
limited and circumscribed, as com- 
pared with those provided for the 
youth of the present time. The obser- 
vations of the young man of that time 
were very generally confined to his 
native vilage. He doubtless saw the 
stage coach as it passed by his home, 
probably went to the circus when it 
came along, and took in the militia 
muster and cattle show if they came 
his way, and attended the village en- 
tertainments and sociables, and went 
to meeting regularly, took no daily 
paper, as there was none to get. This 
was about his daily and yearly ex- 
perience as he grew up. He went to 
the district school and may be went 
one or two terms to the town academy 

103 



if his father thought he could afford it, 
and then he went out into the world 
to seek his fortune, but he had had no 
opportunity to study the arts and sci- 
ences such as are taught in all high 
grade public schools. No industrial 
schools existed anywhere, wherein he 
could go and learn a trade and get a 
knowledge of the use of tools. No tech- 
nical or scientific school was open to 
enable him to acquire the profession 
of civil engineer, that he might, on 
leaving his home, be able to take up 
any of these industrial employments 
and make himself master of his pro- 
fession. Then no commercial schools 
or colleges existed wherein he could fit 
himself for the counting room or a 
mercantile business. None of these 
various schools were anywhere to be 
found in his time. This was the sit- 
uation confronting young men in the 
first forty years of this century. How 
was it with young women at this early- 
period? What was their position for 
advancement? It is well known, that 
in these early times, education of 
young women was considered second- 
ary in importance to that of young 
men, to give the boys an education 
was about all the family could afford 
to do. The girls went to the district 
school, and if home could spare them, 
they sometimes went to the academy 
to qualify themselves for teaching in 
the common schools, but farther than 
this, with few exceptions, no higher 
place was open to them or expected, 
as men only were deemed competent 
and proper to fill them. In short, none 



of the large number of occupations 
now filled by women, were then oc- 
cupied by any other than men. In 
fact, in the early years of the century 
the position of women was quite in- 
ferior to that of men as far as rights, 
independence and opportunity were 
concerned. In the matter of property, 
the law gave little independent hold- 
ing to them in the rights of estate, 
their control was small as compared 
with that of the husband. This was 
practically the situation of women up 
to the middle of the century, but since 
then, down to the present time, a 
great change has been going on in 
public sentiment in relation to the 
rights of women. Now they maintain 
sepai-ate property rights secured by 
law.and the right to honorable employ- 
ment is accorded by public opinion 
everywhere in this country, and they 
stand practically on an equality with 
men in all material affairs of life. 
Young men and women of this day and 
generation, with well directed effort 
and ambition, can find a hundred op- 
portunities open to them, when in 
the early times of their fathers, a score 
could not be found. 

The tremendous vitality and brain 
power exhibited in this driving and 
progressive age, as compared with the 
early years of this century, is as a 
thousand now, to one in that period. 
This is a calculation made at random, 
but how can it be measured at all? 
We all realize that a great change has 
taken place in our time, and that it is 
still going on. In its swift progress 
we find it difficult to keep track of its 

105 



mighty movements and grasp its im- 
portance and measure its wonderful 
results. 

In reviewing the 19th century from 
its beginning to its end, nearly three- 
quarters of it within the observation 
and memory of some of us, we can not 
have failed to note that greater 
changes in the condition and modes of 
living have occurred in our life time 
than is recorded in the history of any 
previous age. At the beginning of this 
century our territory did not extend 
beyond the Mississippi river, our pop- 
ulation hardly four million, the na- 
tional revenues less than four million 
of dollars annually, and our national 
government not fully organized in all 
its departments, and that within our 
time, the country has been enlarged 
fourfold and the population is 18 times 
greater, and the convertible wealth of 
its people has increased even in greater 
ratio. In reflecting upon this mighty 
transition from the old to the new, in 
the 19th century, we may realize the 
historical fact, that no preceding cen- 
tury will compare favorably with this, 
in wonderful achievement and prog- 
ress, nor one that did more for the ad- 
vancement and elevation of the human 
race, and in the development of things 
on the earth. 



106 



